diff --git a/src/common/filefn.cpp b/src/common/filefn.cpp
index 61db37b52c..3548126287 100644
--- a/src/common/filefn.cpp
+++ b/src/common/filefn.cpp
@@ -254,12 +254,13 @@ wxIsAbsolutePath (const wxString& filename)
         if (filename[0] == wxT('/'))
             return true;
 #ifdef __VMS__
-        if ((filename[0] == wxT('[') && filename[1] != wxT('.')))
+        if (filename.size() > 1 && (filename[0] == wxT('[') && filename[1] != wxT('.')))
             return true;
 #endif
 #if defined(__WINDOWS__)
         // MSDOS like
-        if (filename[0] == wxT('\\') || (wxIsalpha (filename[0]) && filename[1] == wxT(':')))
+        if (filename[0] == wxT('\\') ||
+            (filename.size() > 1 && (wxIsalpha (filename[0]) && filename[1] == wxT(':'))))
             return true;
 #endif
     }
diff --git a/tests/file/filefn.cpp b/tests/file/filefn.cpp
index c347639d75..8962dc6bd9 100644
--- a/tests/file/filefn.cpp
+++ b/tests/file/filefn.cpp
@@ -525,6 +525,12 @@ void FileFunctionsTestCase::IsAbsolutePath()
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT( filename.MakeAbsolute() );
     // wxFileName::GetFullPath returns absolute path
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_MESSAGE( msg, wxIsAbsolutePath(filename.GetFullPath()));
+
+#ifdef __WINDOWS__
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT( wxIsAbsolutePath("\\"));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT( wxIsAbsolutePath("c:"));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT( !wxIsAbsolutePath("c"));
+#endif
 }
 
 void FileFunctionsTestCase::PathOnly()