diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index f9be1ce9fe98f551eb1dcfdff713f6a2ef3282e9..779e742723597faa37c4bdb276844080f283faf4 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ CVS code -
 	  switch_to_prev_buffer(), rename open_nextfile_void()
 	  switch_to_next_buffer(), remove load_file(), and remove
 	  load_open_file(). (DLR)
+- files.c:
+  open_file()
+	- Assert that filename isn't NULL, and don't do anything special
+	  if it's blank, as the the former case shouldn't occur, and the
+	  latter case is now handled elsewhere. (DLR)
 - global.c:
   shortcut_init()
 	- Simplify wording of nano_gotoline_msg. (Jordi)
diff --git a/src/files.c b/src/files.c
index 2d07ea3dd3f235a2bf561cef4b07b0a75e0d3f04..7fe590a016133db12fc34b0384e41754722e4cbe 100644
--- a/src/files.c
+++ b/src/files.c
@@ -157,6 +157,8 @@ void open_buffer(const char *filename)
 	/* rc == -2 means that we have a new file.  -1 means that the
 	 * open() failed.  0 means that the open() succeeded. */
 
+    assert(filename != NULL);
+
 #ifndef DISABLE_OPERATINGDIR
     if (check_operating_dir(filename, FALSE)) {
 	statusbar(_("Can't insert file from outside of %s"),
@@ -165,8 +167,9 @@ void open_buffer(const char *filename)
     }
 #endif
 
-    /* Open the file. */
-    rc = open_file(filename, new_buffer, &f);
+    /* If the filename isn't blank, open the file. */
+    if (filename[0] != '\0')
+	rc = open_file(filename, new_buffer, &f);
 
     /* If we're loading into a new buffer, add a new openfile entry. */
     if (new_buffer)
@@ -534,10 +537,9 @@ int open_file(const char *filename, bool newfie, FILE **f)
     int fd;
     struct stat fileinfo;
 
-    assert(f != NULL);
+    assert(filename != NULL && f != NULL);
 
-    if (filename == NULL || filename[0] == '\0' ||
-	    stat(filename, &fileinfo) == -1) {
+    if (stat(filename, &fileinfo) == -1) {
 	if (newfie) {
 	    statusbar(_("New File"));
 	    return -2;