diff --git a/Lib/test/test_module.py b/Lib/test/test_module.py
index e0c7ec3b9fc..ac997734322 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_module.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_module.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ class ModuleTests(unittest.TestCase):
         # and __doc__ is None
         foo = ModuleType.__new__(ModuleType)
         self.failUnless(foo.__dict__ is None)
+        self.assertRaises(SystemError, dir, foo)
         try:
             s = foo.__name__
             self.fail("__name__ = %s" % repr(s))
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 8b0f7ab8b0c..4b8bb707098 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ What's New in Python 2.6.3
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #6707: dir() on an uninitialized module caused a crash.
+
 - Issue #6540: Fixed crash for bytearray.translate() with invalid parameters.
 
 - Issue #6573: set.union() stopped processing inputs if an instance of self
diff --git a/Objects/object.c b/Objects/object.c
index bb3693b6432..0e97e8cd572 100644
--- a/Objects/object.c
+++ b/Objects/object.c
@@ -1806,9 +1806,11 @@ _specialized_dir_module(PyObject *obj)
 		if (PyDict_Check(dict))
 			result = PyDict_Keys(dict);
 		else {
-			PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
-				     "%.200s.__dict__ is not a dictionary",
-				     PyModule_GetName(obj));
+			char *name = PyModule_GetName(obj);
+			if (name)
+				PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
+					     "%.200s.__dict__ is not a dictionary",
+					     name);
 		}
 	}