diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/inreplace_spec.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/inreplace_spec.rb
index 55edc5437e..7b5901b94a 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/inreplace_spec.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/inreplace_spec.rb
@@ -228,6 +228,12 @@ describe Utils::Inreplace do
 
   after { file.unlink }
 
+  it "raises error if there are no files given to replace" do
+    expect {
+      described_class.inreplace [], "d", "f"
+    }.to raise_error(Utils::InreplaceError)
+  end
+
   it "raises error if there is nothing to replace" do
     expect {
       described_class.inreplace file.path, "d", "f"
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils/inreplace.rb b/Library/Homebrew/utils/inreplace.rb
index 3bce563f7c..59f2552679 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/utils/inreplace.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils/inreplace.rb
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ module Utils
     def inreplace(paths, before = nil, after = nil, audit_result = true)
       errors = {}
 
+      errors["`paths` (first) parameter"] = ["`paths` was empty"] if paths.blank?
+
       Array(paths).each do |path|
         s = File.open(path, "rb", &:read).extend(StringInreplaceExtension)