diff --git a/src/embed/embed.go b/src/embed/embed.go
index 29e0adf1a6..cc6855e6a5 100644
--- a/src/embed/embed.go
+++ b/src/embed/embed.go
@@ -244,6 +244,9 @@ func (f FS) lookup(name string) *file {
 	if name == "." {
 		return dotFile
 	}
+	if f.files == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
 
 	// Binary search to find where name would be in the list,
 	// and then check if name is at that position.
@@ -261,6 +264,9 @@ func (f FS) lookup(name string) *file {
 
 // readDir returns the list of files corresponding to the directory dir.
 func (f FS) readDir(dir string) []file {
+	if f.files == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
 	// Binary search to find where dir starts and ends in the list
 	// and then return that slice of the list.
 	files := *f.files
diff --git a/src/embed/internal/embedtest/embed_test.go b/src/embed/internal/embedtest/embed_test.go
index 40f65ffc3f..43ae5c7e05 100644
--- a/src/embed/internal/embedtest/embed_test.go
+++ b/src/embed/internal/embedtest/embed_test.go
@@ -112,3 +112,20 @@ func TestHidden(t *testing.T) {
 	testDir(t, star, "testdata/.hidden",
 		"fortune.txt", "more/") // but not .more or _more
 }
+
+func TestUninitialized(t *testing.T) {
+	var uninitialized embed.FS
+	testDir(t, uninitialized, ".")
+	f, err := uninitialized.Open(".")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer f.Close()
+	fi, err := f.Stat()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !fi.IsDir() {
+		t.Errorf("in uninitialized embed.FS, . is not a directory")
+	}
+}