diff --git a/base/replutil.jl b/base/replutil.jl
index c762a6da63466..820e3c82ef332 100644
--- a/base/replutil.jl
+++ b/base/replutil.jl
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ function show_method_candidates(io::IO, ex::MethodError)
                 print(buf, "::$(method.sig[i])")
             end
         end
-        if length(t_i) > length(method.sig) && Base.isvarargtype(method.sig[end])
+        if length(t_i) > length(method.sig) && !isempty(method.sig) && Base.isvarargtype(method.sig[end])
             # It ensures that methods like f(a::AbstractString...) gets the correct
             # number of right_matches
             for t in typeof(ex.args)[length(method.sig):end]
diff --git a/test/replutil.jl b/test/replutil.jl
index ba4dcc3e04fe0..ad17a7885cc25 100644
--- a/test/replutil.jl
+++ b/test/replutil.jl
@@ -46,4 +46,8 @@ method_c3(x::Float64, y::Float64) = true
 Base.show_method_candidates(buf, Base.MethodError(method_c3,(1.,)))
 color = "\e[0m\nClosest candidates are:\n  method_c3(::Float64, \e[1m\e[31m::Float64\e[0m)\n\e[0m"
 no_color = no_color = "\nClosest candidates are:\n  method_c3(::Float64, !Matched::Float64)\n"
-test_have_color(buf, color, no_color)
\ No newline at end of file
+test_have_color(buf, color, no_color)
+
+# Test for the method error in issue #8651
+Base.show_method_candidates(buf, MethodError(readline,(ASCIIString,)))
+test_have_color(buf, "", "")
\ No newline at end of file