diff --git a/gitweb/gitweb.perl b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
index 7a5b23acf..05d7910b7 100755
--- a/gitweb/gitweb.perl
+++ b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
@@ -7576,7 +7576,7 @@ sub git_object {
 			git_cmd(), 'cat-file', '-t', $object_id) . ' 2> /dev/null'
 			or die_error(404, "Object does not exist");
 		$type = <$fd>;
-		chomp $type;
+		defined $type && chomp $type;
 		close $fd
 			or die_error(404, "Object does not exist");