diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index e5acf355..61fb69ac 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2015-07-17  Benno Schulenberg  <bensberg@justemail.net>
+	* src/files.c (open_buffer): Verify that a named and existing file
+	is a normal file, to avoid opening an empty buffer when the name of
+	a directory is specified.  This fixes Savannah bug #45383 reported
+	by Mike Frysinger, and also Savannah bug #27839 (which is an echo
+	from Debian bug #551717 reported by Paul Wise).
+
 2015-07-17  Mike Frysinger  <vapier@gentoo.org>
 	* src/browser.c (browser_refresh): Use the proper type (off_t) for
 	the size of a file, and avoid warnings about too large bit shifts.
diff --git a/src/files.c b/src/files.c
index 2198fac2..4c491fd1 100644
--- a/src/files.c
+++ b/src/files.c
@@ -339,6 +339,21 @@ void open_buffer(const char *filename, bool undoable)
     }
 #endif
 
+    /* When the specified filename is not empty, and the thing exists,
+     * verify that it is a normal file. */
+    if (strcmp(filename, "") != 0) {
+	struct stat fileinfo;
+
+	if (stat(filename, &fileinfo) == 0 && !S_ISREG(fileinfo.st_mode)) {
+	    if (S_ISDIR(fileinfo.st_mode))
+		statusbar(_("\"%s\" is a directory"), filename);
+	    else
+		statusbar(_("\"%s\" is not a normal file"), filename);
+	    beep();
+	    return;
+	}
+    }
+
     /* If we're going to load into a new buffer, first create the new
      * buffer and lock the corresponding file. */
     if (new_buffer) {