1 files changed, 8 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/lisp/man.el b/lisp/man.el
index a6aced25e3d..0484c032e34 100644
--- a/lisp/man.el
+++ b/lisp/man.el
@@ -628,7 +628,14 @@ a new value."
     (setq Man-support-local-filenames
           (with-temp-buffer
             (and (equal (condition-case nil
-                            (call-process manual-program nil t nil "--help")
+                            (let ((default-directory
+                                    ;; Assure that `default-directory' exists
+                                    ;; and is readable.
+                                    (if (and (file-directory-p default-directory)
+                                             (file-readable-p default-directory))
+                                        default-directory
+                                      (expand-file-name "~/"))))
+                              (call-process manual-program nil t nil "--help"))
                           (error nil))
                         0)
                  (progn