--- gtk+-1.2.10/gtk/gtkfilesel.c.fileselectorfallback	2002-09-11 11:25:27.000000000 +0200
+++ gtk+-1.2.10/gtk/gtkfilesel.c	2002-09-11 13:05:39.000000000 +0200
@@ -1578,6 +1578,7 @@
 {
   gchar getcwd_buf[2*MAXPATHLEN];
   CompletionState *new_state;
+  gint fallback = 0;
 
   new_state = g_new (CompletionState, 1);
 
@@ -1594,6 +1595,7 @@
        * a root directory, right? Right? (Probably not portable to non-Unix)
        */
       strcpy (getcwd_buf, "/");
+      fallback = 1;
     }
 
 tryagain:
@@ -1616,7 +1618,26 @@
   if (!new_state->reference_dir)
     {
       /* Directories changing from underneath us, grumble */
-      strcpy (getcwd_buf, "/");
+      if (fallback == 0) {
+	strcpy (getcwd_buf, "/");
+	fallback = 1;
+      }
+      else {
+	if (fallback == 1) { /* last try with user home dir */
+	  if (g_get_home_dir ()) {
+	    strcpy (getcwd_buf, g_get_home_dir ());
+	  }
+	  fallback = 2;
+	}
+	else {
+	  g_error ("no readable fallback directory found for GtkFileSelector, exiting");
+	}
+      }
+      /* don't leak updated_text and the_completion.text */
+      if (new_state->the_completion.text)
+	g_free (new_state->the_completion.text);
+      if (new_state->updated_text)
+	g_free (new_state->updated_text);
       goto tryagain;
     }