diff --git a/collects/file/gunzip.rkt b/collects/file/gunzip.rkt
index 396afe9fa3..19cf9cef65 100644
--- a/collects/file/gunzip.rkt
+++ b/collects/file/gunzip.rkt
@@ -278,7 +278,8 @@
             (set! buf-pos MAX-LOOKAHEAD))
           (let ([got (peek-bytes-avail! buffer buf-pos #f input-port buf-pos BUFFER-SIZE)])
             (if (eof-object? got)
-                (error 'inflate "unexpected end of file")
+                (begin (bytes-set! buffer buf-pos 255)
+                       (set! buf-max (add1 buf-pos)))
                 (set! buf-max (+ buf-pos got))))
           (READBITS n))
         (let ([v (bytes-ref buffer buf-pos)])