diff --git a/Lib/shutil.py b/Lib/shutil.py
index af96546..c46ec47 100644
--- a/Lib/shutil.py
+++ b/Lib/shutil.py
@@ -11,11 +11,15 @@
 import fnmatch
 
 __all__ = ["copyfileobj","copyfile","copymode","copystat","copy","copy2",
-           "copytree","move","rmtree","Error"]
+           "copytree","move","rmtree","Error", "SpecialFileError"]
 
 class Error(EnvironmentError):
     pass
 
+class SpecialFileError(EnvironmentError):
+    """Raised when trying to do a kind of operation (e.g. copying) which is
+    not supported on a special file (e.g. a named pipe)"""
+
 try:
     WindowsError
 except NameError:
@@ -48,6 +52,15 @@
 
     fsrc = None
     fdst = None
+    for fn in [src, dst]:
+        try:
+            st = os.stat(fn)
+        except OSError:
+            # File most likely does not exist
+            pass
+        # XXX What about other special files? (sockets, devices...)
+        if stat.S_ISFIFO(st.st_mode):
+            raise SpecialFileError("`%s` is a named pipe" % fn)
     try:
         fsrc = open(src, 'rb')
         fdst = open(dst, 'wb')
@@ -157,14 +170,14 @@
             elif os.path.isdir(srcname):
                 copytree(srcname, dstname, symlinks, ignore)
             else:
+                # Will raise a SpecialFileError for unsupported file types
                 copy2(srcname, dstname)
-            # XXX What about devices, sockets etc.?
-        except (IOError, os.error), why:
-            errors.append((srcname, dstname, str(why)))
         # catch the Error from the recursive copytree so that we can
         # continue with other files
         except Error, err:
             errors.extend(err.args[0])
+        except EnvironmentError, why:
+            errors.append((srcname, dstname, str(why)))
     try:
         copystat(src, dst)
     except OSError, why: