diff --git a/collects/lazy/lazy.rkt b/collects/lazy/lazy.rkt
index d743ae5a5f..cba16e6211 100644
--- a/collects/lazy/lazy.rkt
+++ b/collects/lazy/lazy.rkt
@@ -575,10 +575,16 @@
   ;; Extra functionality that is useful for lazy list stuff
 
   (define* (take n l)
-    (let ([n (! n)] [l (! l)])
+    (let ([n0 (! n)] [l (! l)])
       (if (exact-nonnegative-integer? n)
-        (let loop ([n n] [l l])
-          (cond [(or (<= n 0) (null? l)) '()]
+        (let loop ([n n0] [l l])
+          (cond [(null? l)
+                 (if (n . > . 0)
+                   ;; it would be fine to force the whole list (since we now
+                   ;; know it's finite), but doing so means keeping a reference
+                   ;; to its head, which can lead to memory leaks.
+                   (error 'take "index ~e too large for input list" n0)
+                   '())]
                 [(pair? l) (cons (car l) (~ (loop (sub1 n) (! (cdr l)))))]
                 [else (error 'take "not a proper list: ~e" l)]))
         (raise-type-error 'take "non-negative exact integer" 0 n l))))