diff --git a/src/pkg/text/template/exec.go b/src/pkg/text/template/exec.go
index 0c633e6bab..5fad5ccecb 100644
--- a/src/pkg/text/template/exec.go
+++ b/src/pkg/text/template/exec.go
@@ -520,6 +520,13 @@ func (s *state) validateType(value reflect.Value, typ reflect.Type) reflect.Valu
 		}
 	}
 	if !value.Type().AssignableTo(typ) {
+		if value.Kind() == reflect.Interface && !value.IsNil() {
+			value = value.Elem()
+			if value.Type().AssignableTo(typ) {
+				return value
+			}
+			// fallthrough
+		}
 		// Does one dereference or indirection work? We could do more, as we
 		// do with method receivers, but that gets messy and method receivers
 		// are much more constrained, so it makes more sense there than here.
diff --git a/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go b/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go
index 8f6c67bbaa..c8a3013977 100644
--- a/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go
@@ -314,6 +314,7 @@ var execTests = []execTest{
 	{".VariadicFuncInt", "{{call .VariadicFuncInt 33 `he` `llo`}}", "33=<he+llo>", tVal, true},
 	{"if .BinaryFunc call", "{{ if .BinaryFunc}}{{call .BinaryFunc `1` `2`}}{{end}}", "[1=2]", tVal, true},
 	{"if not .BinaryFunc call", "{{ if not .BinaryFunc}}{{call .BinaryFunc `1` `2`}}{{else}}No{{end}}", "No", tVal, true},
+	{"Interface Call", `{{stringer .S}}`, "foozle", map[string]interface{}{"S": bytes.NewBufferString("foozle")}, true},
 
 	// Erroneous function calls (check args).
 	{".BinaryFuncTooFew", "{{call .BinaryFunc `1`}}", "", tVal, false},
@@ -512,6 +513,10 @@ func vfunc(V, *V) string {
 	return "vfunc"
 }
 
+func stringer(s fmt.Stringer) string {
+	return s.String()
+}
+
 func testExecute(execTests []execTest, template *Template, t *testing.T) {
 	b := new(bytes.Buffer)
 	funcs := FuncMap{
@@ -521,6 +526,7 @@ func testExecute(execTests []execTest, template *Template, t *testing.T) {
 		"typeOf":   typeOf,
 		"vfunc":    vfunc,
 		"zeroArgs": zeroArgs,
+		"stringer": stringer,
 	}
 	for _, test := range execTests {
 		var tmpl *Template