diff --git a/lib/Cake/Network/CakeRequest.php b/lib/Cake/Network/CakeRequest.php
index 4ea520280fa..8933822e4da 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Network/CakeRequest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Network/CakeRequest.php
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ public function referer($local = false) {
 		if (!empty($ref) && !empty($base)) {
 			if ($local && strpos($ref, $base) === 0) {
 				$ref = substr($ref, strlen($base));
-				if ($ref[0] !== '/') {
+				if (isset($ref[0]) && $ref[0] !== '/') {
 					$ref = '/' . $ref;
 				}
 				return $ref;