diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/BlameTest.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/BlameTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e806872c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/BlameTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2019 Thomas Wolf <thomas.wolf@paranor.ch>
+ * and other copyright owners as documented in the project's IP log.
+ *
+ * This program and the accompanying materials are made available
+ * under the terms of the Eclipse Distribution License v1.0 which
+ * accompanies this distribution, is reproduced below, and is
+ * available at http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/edl-v10.php
+ *
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or
+ * without modification, are permitted provided that the following
+ * conditions are met:
+ *
+ * - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+ *   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+ *
+ * - Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+ *   copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+ *   disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+ *   with the distribution.
+ *
+ * - Neither the name of the Eclipse Foundation, Inc. nor the
+ *   names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote
+ *   products derived from this software without specific prior
+ *   written permission.
+ *
+ * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND
+ * CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
+ * INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
+ * OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
+ * ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR
+ * CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+ * SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
+ * NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
+ * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
+ * CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
+ * STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
+ * ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF
+ * ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+ */
+package org.eclipse.jgit.pgm;
+
+import org.eclipse.jgit.api.Git;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.CLIRepositoryTestCase;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
+
+public class BlameTest extends CLIRepositoryTestCase {
+
+	@Rule
+	public ExpectedException thrown = ExpectedException.none();
+
+	@Test
+	public void testBlameNoHead() throws Exception {
+		try (Git git = new Git(db)) {
+			writeTrashFile("inIndex.txt", "index");
+			git.add().addFilepattern("inIndex.txt").call();
+		}
+		thrown.expect(Die.class);
+		thrown.expectMessage("no such ref: HEAD");
+		execute("git blame inIndex.txt");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testBlameCommitted() throws Exception {
+		try (Git git = new Git(db)) {
+			git.commit().setMessage("initial commit").call();
+			writeTrashFile("committed.txt", "committed");
+			git.add().addFilepattern("committed.txt").call();
+			git.commit().setMessage("commit").call();
+		}
+		assertStringArrayEquals(
+				"1ad3399c (GIT_COMMITTER_NAME 2009-08-15 20:12:58 -0330 1) committed",
+				execute("git blame committed.txt"));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testBlameStaged() throws Exception {
+		try (Git git = new Git(db)) {
+			git.commit().setMessage("initial commit").call();
+			writeTrashFile("inIndex.txt", "index");
+			git.add().addFilepattern("inIndex.txt").call();
+		}
+		assertStringArrayEquals(
+				"         (Not Committed Yet          1) index",
+				execute("git blame inIndex.txt"));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testBlameUnstaged() throws Exception {
+		try (Git git = new Git(db)) {
+			git.commit().setMessage("initial commit").call();
+		}
+		writeTrashFile("onlyInWorkingTree.txt", "not in repo");
+		thrown.expect(Die.class);
+		thrown.expectMessage("no such path 'onlyInWorkingTree.txt' in HEAD");
+		execute("git blame onlyInWorkingTree.txt");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testBlameNonExisting() throws Exception {
+		try (Git git = new Git(db)) {
+			git.commit().setMessage("initial commit").call();
+		}
+		thrown.expect(Die.class);
+		thrown.expectMessage("no such path 'does_not_exist.txt' in HEAD");
+		execute("git blame does_not_exist.txt");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testBlameNonExistingInSubdir() throws Exception {
+		try (Git git = new Git(db)) {
+			git.commit().setMessage("initial commit").call();
+		}
+		thrown.expect(Die.class);
+		thrown.expectMessage("no such path 'sub/does_not_exist.txt' in HEAD");
+		execute("git blame sub/does_not_exist.txt");
+	}
+}
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties
index 2a5a31eba..b2ec57c74 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties
@@ -155,6 +155,8 @@ needSingleRevision=Needed a single revision
 noGitRepositoryConfigured=No Git repository configured.
 noNamesFound=No names found, cannot describe anything.
 noSuchFile=no such file: {0}
+noSuchPathInRef=no such path ''{0}'' in {1}
+noSuchRef=no such ref: {0}
 noSuchRemoteRef=no such remote ref: ''{0}''
 noSystemConsoleAvailable=No System.console available
 noTREESectionInIndex=no 'TREE' section in index
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Blame.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Blame.java
index e38cb468d..b67b04c5b 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Blame.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Blame.java
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@
 import org.eclipse.jgit.dircache.DirCache;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.NoWorkTreeException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Constants;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectReader;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.PersonIdent;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.pgm.internal.CLIText;
@@ -178,14 +179,28 @@ protected void run() {
 				}
 				generator.reverse(rangeStart, rangeEnd);
 			} else if (revision != null) {
-				generator.push(null, db.resolve(revision + "^{commit}")); //$NON-NLS-1$
+				ObjectId rev = db.resolve(revision + "^{commit}"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+				if (rev == null) {
+					throw die(MessageFormat.format(CLIText.get().noSuchRef,
+							revision));
+				}
+				generator.push(null, rev);
 			} else {
-				generator.push(null, db.resolve(Constants.HEAD));
+				ObjectId head = db.resolve(Constants.HEAD);
+				if (head == null) {
+					throw die(MessageFormat.format(CLIText.get().noSuchRef,
+							Constants.HEAD));
+				}
+				generator.push(null, head);
 				if (!db.isBare()) {
 					DirCache dc = db.readDirCache();
 					int entry = dc.findEntry(file);
 					if (0 <= entry) {
 						generator.push(null, dc.getEntry(entry).getObjectId());
+					} else {
+						throw die(MessageFormat.format(
+								CLIText.get().noSuchPathInRef, file,
+								Constants.HEAD));
 					}
 
 					File inTree = new File(db.getWorkTree(), file);
@@ -196,6 +211,10 @@ protected void run() {
 			}
 
 			blame = BlameResult.create(generator);
+			if (blame == null) {
+				throw die(MessageFormat.format(CLIText.get().noSuchPathInRef,
+						file, revision != null ? revision : Constants.HEAD));
+			}
 			begin = 0;
 			end = blame.getResultContents().size();
 			if (rangeString != null) {
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.java
index 7b9401f36..1054944ff 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.java
@@ -257,6 +257,8 @@ public static String fatalError(String message) {
 	/***/ public String noGitRepositoryConfigured;
 	/***/ public String noNamesFound;
 	/***/ public String noSuchFile;
+	/***/ public String noSuchPathInRef;
+	/***/ public String noSuchRef;
 	/***/ public String noSuchRemoteRef;
 	/***/ public String noTREESectionInIndex;
 	/***/ public String nonFastForward;