diff --git a/gnu/dist/binutils/binutils/bucomm.c b/gnu/dist/binutils/binutils/bucomm.c
index 6573e2d9c7fa..54daea86c96c 100644
--- a/gnu/dist/binutils/binutils/bucomm.c
+++ b/gnu/dist/binutils/binutils/bucomm.c
@@ -469,7 +469,14 @@ get_file_size (const char * file_name)
 		   file_name, strerror (errno));
     }  
   else if (! S_ISREG (statbuf.st_mode))
-    non_fatal (_("Warning: '%s' is not an ordinary file"), file_name);
+    {
+      if (!S_ISCHR(statbuf.st_mode))
+	{
+	  non_fatal (_("Warning: '%s' is not an ordinary file"), file_name);
+	  return 0;
+	}
+      return statbuf.st_size ? statbuf.st_size : 1;
+    }
   else
     return statbuf.st_size;