diff --git a/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go b/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go
index d79365107d3..683e9ac76b6 100644
--- a/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go
@@ -811,3 +811,8 @@ func TestTree(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("expected %q got %q", expect, result)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestExecuteOnNewTemplate(t *testing.T) {
+	// This is issue 3872.
+	_ = New("Name").Templates()
+}
diff --git a/src/pkg/text/template/template.go b/src/pkg/text/template/template.go
index 82fc9e5e39d..a2b9062ad14 100644
--- a/src/pkg/text/template/template.go
+++ b/src/pkg/text/template/template.go
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ func (t *Template) AddParseTree(name string, tree *parse.Tree) (*Template, error
 // Templates returns a slice of the templates associated with t, including t
 // itself.
 func (t *Template) Templates() []*Template {
+	if t.common == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
 	// Return a slice so we don't expose the map.
 	m := make([]*Template, 0, len(t.tmpl))
 	for _, v := range t.tmpl {