diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/page.el b/lisp/textmodes/page.el
index 17fda677754..22c73591b91 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/page.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/page.el
@@ -48,12 +48,13 @@ A page boundary is any line whose beginning matches the regexp
     (and (save-excursion (re-search-backward page-delimiter nil t))
 	 (= (match-end 0) (point))
 	 (goto-char (match-beginning 0)))
-    (forward-char -1)
-    (if (re-search-backward page-delimiter nil t)
-	;; We found one--move to the end of it.
-	(goto-char (match-end 0))
-      ;; We found nothing--go to beg of buffer.
-      (goto-char (point-min)))
+    (unless (bobp)
+      (forward-char -1)
+      (if (re-search-backward page-delimiter nil t)
+	  ;; We found one--move to the end of it.
+	  (goto-char (match-end 0))
+	;; We found nothing--go to beg of buffer.
+	(goto-char (point-min))))
     (setq count (1+ count))))
 
 (defun backward-page (&optional count)