diff --git a/Lib/platform.py b/Lib/platform.py
index 90ad93d..1852f30 100755
--- a/Lib/platform.py
+++ b/Lib/platform.py
@@ -247,6 +247,12 @@
 
 def _parse_release_file(firstline):
 
+    # Default to empty 'version' and 'id' strings.  Both defaults are used
+    # when 'firstline' is empty.  'id' defaults to empty when an id can not
+    # be deduced.
+    version = ''
+    id = ''
+
     # Parse the first line
     m = _lsb_release_version.match(firstline)
     if m is not None:
@@ -264,8 +270,6 @@
         version = l[0]
         if len(l) > 1:
             id = l[1]
-        else:
-            id = ''
     return '', version, id
 
 def _test_parse_release_file():
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_platform.py b/Lib/test/test_platform.py
index 9056d47..c3fd323 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_platform.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_platform.py
@@ -131,6 +131,24 @@
             executable = executable + '.exe'
         res = platform.libc_ver(sys.executable)
 
+    def test_parse_release_file(self):
+
+        for input, output in (
+            # Examples of release file contents:
+            ('SuSE Linux 9.3 (x86-64)', ('SuSE Linux ', '9.3', 'x86-64')),
+            ('SUSE LINUX 10.1 (X86-64)', ('SUSE LINUX ', '10.1', 'X86-64')),
+            ('SUSE LINUX 10.1 (i586)', ('SUSE LINUX ', '10.1', 'i586')),
+            ('Fedora Core release 5 (Bordeaux)', ('Fedora Core', '5', 'Bordeaux')),
+            ('Red Hat Linux release 8.0 (Psyche)', ('Red Hat Linux', '8.0', 'Psyche')),
+            ('Red Hat Linux release 9 (Shrike)', ('Red Hat Linux', '9', 'Shrike')),
+            ('Red Hat Enterprise Linux release 4 (Nahant)', ('Red Hat Enterprise Linux', '4', 'Nahant')),
+            ('CentOS release 4', ('CentOS', '4', None)),
+            ('Rocks release 4.2.1 (Cydonia)', ('Rocks', '4.2.1', 'Cydonia')),
+            ('', ('', '', '')), # If there's nothing there.
+            ):
+            self.assertEqual(platform._parse_release_file(input), output)
+
+
 def test_main():
     test_support.run_unittest(
         PlatformTest