diff --git a/gst/elements/gstfilesrc.c b/gst/elements/gstfilesrc.c
index 2d9541e8ab..0f768abe2e 100644
--- a/gst/elements/gstfilesrc.c
+++ b/gst/elements/gstfilesrc.c
@@ -555,6 +555,16 @@ gst_filesrc_open_file (GstFileSrc *src)
     		       src->filename, strerror (errno), NULL);
     return FALSE;
   } else {
+		/* check if it is a regular file, otherwise bail out */
+		struct stat stat_results;
+		fstat(src->fd, &stat_results);
+		if (!S_ISREG(stat_results.st_mode)) {
+			gst_element_error (GST_ELEMENT (src), "opening file \"%s\" failed. it isn't a regular file", 
+												 src->filename, NULL);
+			close(src->fd);
+			return FALSE;
+		}
+		
     /* find the file length */
     src->filelen = lseek (src->fd, 0, SEEK_END);
     lseek (src->fd, 0, SEEK_SET);
diff --git a/plugins/elements/gstfilesrc.c b/plugins/elements/gstfilesrc.c
index 2d9541e8ab..0f768abe2e 100644
--- a/plugins/elements/gstfilesrc.c
+++ b/plugins/elements/gstfilesrc.c
@@ -555,6 +555,16 @@ gst_filesrc_open_file (GstFileSrc *src)
     		       src->filename, strerror (errno), NULL);
     return FALSE;
   } else {
+		/* check if it is a regular file, otherwise bail out */
+		struct stat stat_results;
+		fstat(src->fd, &stat_results);
+		if (!S_ISREG(stat_results.st_mode)) {
+			gst_element_error (GST_ELEMENT (src), "opening file \"%s\" failed. it isn't a regular file", 
+												 src->filename, NULL);
+			close(src->fd);
+			return FALSE;
+		}
+		
     /* find the file length */
     src->filelen = lseek (src->fd, 0, SEEK_END);
     lseek (src->fd, 0, SEEK_SET);