diff --git a/git-cvsimport.perl b/git-cvsimport.perl
index bbb83fb71c..e3cad5a1ca 100755
--- a/git-cvsimport.perl
+++ b/git-cvsimport.perl
@@ -337,6 +337,10 @@ sub file {
 	}
 	close ($fh);
 
+	if ($res eq '') {
+	    die "Looks like the server has gone away while fetching $fn $rev -- exiting!";
+	}
+
 	return ($name, $res);
 }