diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/ssa.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/ssa.go
index 553713a1e9..af43da6275 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/ssa.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/ssa.go
@@ -3515,6 +3515,10 @@ func (s *state) call(n *Node, k callKind) *ssa.Value {
 			break
 		}
 		closure = s.expr(fn)
+		if thearch.LinkArch.Family == sys.Wasm {
+			// TODO(neelance): On other architectures this should be eliminated by the optimization steps
+			s.nilCheck(closure)
+		}
 	case OCALLMETH:
 		if fn.Op != ODOTMETH {
 			Fatalf("OCALLMETH: n.Left not an ODOTMETH: %v", fn)
diff --git a/test/closure4.go b/test/closure4.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ec4e0a18eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/closure4.go
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// run
+
+// Copyright 2018 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// Check that calling a nil func causes a proper panic.
+
+package main
+
+func main() {
+	defer func() {
+		err := recover()
+		if err == nil {
+			panic("panic expected")
+		}
+	}()
+
+	var f func()
+	f()
+}