--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+2010-11-13  Bruno Haible  <bruno@clisp.org>
+
+	openat: Work around glibc bug with fchownat() and empty file names.
+	* m4/openat.m4 (gl_FUNC_FCHOWNAT_EMPTY_FILENAME_BUG): New macro.
+	(gl_FUNC_FCHOWNAT): Invoke it.
+	* lib/fchownat.c (rpl_fchownat): Handle the empty file name specially.
+	* doc/posix-functions/fchownat.texi: Document the glibc bug.
+	Reported by Gary V. Vaughan <gary@gnu.org>.
+
 2010-11-13  Bruno Haible  <bruno@clisp.org>
 
 	openat: Ensure autoconf macro ordering.

--- a/doc/posix-functions/fchownat.texi
+++ b/doc/posix-functions/fchownat.texi
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 @code{AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW}:
 Linux kernel 2.6.17.
 @item
+This function does not fail for an empty filename on some platforms:
+Linux with glibc < 2.11.
+@item
 This function is missing on some platforms:
 glibc 2.3.6, MacOS X 10.3, FreeBSD 6.0, NetBSD 3.0, OpenBSD 3.8, AIX
 5.1, HP-UX 11, IRIX 6.5, OSF/1 5.1, Cygwin 1.5.x, mingw, Interix 3.5, BeOS.

--- a/lib/fchownat.c
+++ b/lib/fchownat.c
@@ -88,6 +88,13 @@
   if (flag == AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW)
     return local_lchownat (fd, file, owner, group);
 # endif
+# if FCHOWNAT_EMPTY_FILENAME_BUG
+  if (file[0] == '\0')
+    {
+      errno = ENOENT;
+      return -1;
+    }
+# endif
 # if CHOWN_TRAILING_SLASH_BUG
   {
     size_t len = strlen (file);

--- a/m4/openat.m4
+++ b/m4/openat.m4
@@ -99,6 +99,38 @@
   AS_IF([test $gl_cv_func_fchownat_nofollow_works = no], [$1], [$2])
 ])
 
+# gl_FUNC_FCHOWNAT_EMPTY_FILENAME_BUG([ACTION-IF-BUGGY[, ACTION-IF-NOT_BUGGY]])
+AC_DEFUN([gl_FUNC_FCHOWNAT_EMPTY_FILENAME_BUG],
+[
+  dnl Persuade glibc's <unistd.h> to declare fchownat().
+  AC_REQUIRE([gl_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS])
+
+  AC_CACHE_CHECK([whether fchownat works with an empty file name],
+    [gl_cv_func_fchownat_empty_filename_works],
+    [AC_RUN_IFELSE(
+       [AC_LANG_PROGRAM(
+          [[#include <unistd.h>
+            #include <fcntl.h>
+          ]],
+          [[int fd;
+            int ret;
+            if (mkdir ("conftestdir", 0700) < 0)
+              return 2;
+            fd = open ("conftestdir", O_RDONLY);
+            if (fd < 0)
+              return 3;
+            ret = fchownat (fd, "", -1, -1, 0);
+            close (fd);
+            rmdir ("conftestdir");
+            return ret == 0;
+          ]])],
+       [gl_cv_func_fchownat_empty_filename_works=yes],
+       [gl_cv_func_fchownat_empty_filename_works=no],
+       [gl_cv_func_fchownat_empty_filename_works="guessing no"])
+    ])
+  AS_IF([test "$gl_cv_func_fchownat_empty_filename_works" != yes], [$1], [$2])
+])
+
 # If we have the fchownat function, and it has the bug (in glibc-2.4)
 # that it dereferences symlinks even with AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW, then
 # use the replacement function.
@@ -116,6 +148,12 @@
                   [Define to 1 if your platform has fchownat, but it cannot
                    perform lchown tasks.])
        ])
+     gl_FUNC_FCHOWNAT_EMPTY_FILENAME_BUG(
+       [REPLACE_FCHOWNAT=1
+        AC_DEFINE([FCHOWNAT_EMPTY_FILENAME_BUG], [1],
+                  [Define to 1 if your platform has fchownat, but it does
+                   not reject an empty file name.])
+       ])
      if test $REPLACE_CHOWN = 1; then
        REPLACE_FCHOWNAT=1
      fi],