diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiView.cpp b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiView.cpp
index 330e8b197b..81354f1949 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiView.cpp
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiView.cpp
@@ -2296,7 +2296,7 @@ bool GuiView::renameBuffer(Buffer & b, docstring const & newname)
 
 	// if there is already a Buffer open with this name, we do not want
 	// to have another one.
-	if (theBufferList().exists(fname)) {
+	if (theBufferList().exists(fname) && fname != oldname) {
 		docstring const text = 
 			bformat(_("The file\n%1$s\nis already open in your current session.\n"
 		            "Please close it before attempting to overwrite it.\n"