diff --git a/NEWS.txt b/NEWS.txt
index fd08c69c4..6c652b6c8 100644
--- a/NEWS.txt
+++ b/NEWS.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ Version 0.9.0beta1 - 2007-05-XX
  * Bug Fixes:
    * F1 for Help instead of CTRL+H on Windows and Linux. (#2485, Nikolai Prokoschenko)
    * Tabbing focus transition from search isn't as expected. (#2546, Nikolai Prokoschenko)
+   * Display an error message if launching a web browser failed.
 
 Version 0.9.0alpha9 - 2007-05-12
  * New Features:
diff --git a/picard/util/webbrowser2.py b/picard/util/webbrowser2.py
index 59572bc55..b18370a2b 100644
--- a/picard/util/webbrowser2.py
+++ b/picard/util/webbrowser2.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 import os
 import webbrowser
+from PyQt4 import QtGui
 
 """
 A webbrowser extension that respects user's preferred browser on each
@@ -68,4 +69,8 @@ if 'windows-default' in webbrowser._tryorder:
     webbrowser.register('iexplore', None, iexplore)
 
 
-open = webbrowser.open
+def open(url):
+    try:
+        webbrowser.open(url)
+    except webbrowser.Error, e:
+        QtGui.QMessageBox.critical(None, _("Web Browser Error"), _("Error while launching a web browser:\n\n%s") % (e,))