3 files changed, 16 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/actionpack/CHANGELOG b/actionpack/CHANGELOG
index 1aa2d5b521..cba7c56d38 100644
--- a/actionpack/CHANGELOG
+++ b/actionpack/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 *SVN*
 
+* catch possible WSOD when trying to render a missing partial. Closes #8454 [Catfish]
+
 * Rewind request body after reading it, if possible.  #8438 [s450r1]
 
 * Resource namespaces are inherited by their has_many subresources.  #8280 [marclove, ggarside]
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/base.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/base.rb
index 69db2772bb..f6885fa292 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/base.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/base.rb
@@ -278,6 +278,10 @@ module ActionView #:nodoc:
 
       template_source = nil # Don't read the source until we know that it is required
 
+      if template_file_name.blank?
+        raise ActionViewError, "Couldn't find template file for #{template_path} in #{@view_paths.inspect}"
+      end
+
       begin
         render_template(template_extension, template_source, template_file_name, local_assigns)
       rescue Exception => e
diff --git a/actionpack/test/controller/new_render_test.rb b/actionpack/test/controller/new_render_test.rb
index 3fade1c7b8..4f2b062fa2 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/controller/new_render_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/controller/new_render_test.rb
@@ -163,6 +163,10 @@ class NewRenderTestController < ActionController::Base
     render :partial => "customer"
   end
   
+  def missing_partial
+    render :partial => 'thisFileIsntHere'
+  end
+  
   def hello_in_a_string
     @customers = [ Customer.new("david"), Customer.new("mary") ]
     render :text =>  "How's there? #{render_to_string("test/list")}"
@@ -682,6 +686,12 @@ EOS
     assert_equal "Hello: Marcel", @response.body
   end
   
+  def test_render_missing_partial_template
+    assert_raises(ActionView::ActionViewError) do
+      get :missing_partial
+    end
+  end
+  
   def test_render_text_with_assigns
     get :render_text_with_assigns
     assert_equal "world", assigns["hello"]