diff --git a/Lib/functools.py b/Lib/functools.py
index c8b79c2..24b011d 100644
--- a/Lib/functools.py
+++ b/Lib/functools.py
@@ -817,8 +817,13 @@
         return func
 
     def wrapper(*args, **kw):
+        if not args:
+            raise TypeError(f'{funcname} requires at least '
+                            '1 positional argument')
+
         return dispatch(args[0].__class__)(*args, **kw)
 
+    funcname = getattr(func, '__name__', 'singledispatch function')
     registry[object] = func
     wrapper.register = register
     wrapper.dispatch = dispatch