diff --git a/avrdude/ChangeLog b/avrdude/ChangeLog
index 3250d64f..33215fbc 100644
--- a/avrdude/ChangeLog
+++ b/avrdude/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2005-07-25  Joerg Wunsch <j@uriah.heep.sax.de>
+
+	* usb_libusb.c: Catch benign errors when reading the serial #.
+
 2005-06-19  Joerg Wunsch <j@uriah.heep.sax.de>
 
 	* Makefile.am: Implement libusb-base USB transport for the
diff --git a/avrdude/usb_libusb.c b/avrdude/usb_libusb.c
index d7b98455..d53d04b9 100644
--- a/avrdude/usb_libusb.c
+++ b/avrdude/usb_libusb.c
@@ -117,7 +117,17 @@ static int usbdev_open(char * port, long baud)
 		      fprintf(stderr,
 			      "%s: usb_open(): cannot read serial number \"%s\"\n",
 			      progname, usb_strerror());
-		      exit(1);
+		      /*
+		       * On some systems, libusb appears to have
+		       * problems sending control messages.  Catch the
+		       * benign case where the user did not request a
+		       * particular serial number, so we could
+		       * continue anyway.
+		       */
+		      if (serno != NULL)
+			exit(1); /* no chance */
+		      else
+			strcpy(string, "[unknown]");
 		    }
 
 		  if (verbose)