diff --git a/libs/pbd/filesystem.cc b/libs/pbd/filesystem.cc
index 6aaaec1d81..ea45b1da44 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/filesystem.cc
+++ b/libs/pbd/filesystem.cc
@@ -155,8 +155,11 @@ copy_file(const path & from_path, const path & to_path)
 string
 basename (const path & p)
 {
-	// I'm not sure if this works quite the same as boost::filesystem::basename
-	return Glib::path_get_basename (p.to_string ());
+	string base = Glib::path_get_basename (p.to_string());
+
+	string::size_type n = base.rfind ('.');
+
+	return base.substr (0, n);
 }
 
 } // namespace sys
diff --git a/libs/pbd/pbd/filesystem.h b/libs/pbd/pbd/filesystem.h
index a5b0ed5b28..b5f328acf4 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/pbd/filesystem.h
+++ b/libs/pbd/pbd/filesystem.h
@@ -162,7 +162,14 @@ bool remove(const path & p);
  */
 void copy_file(const path & from_path, const path & to_path);
 
-
+/**
+ * @return The substring of the filename component of the path, starting
+ * at the beginning of the filename up to but not including the last dot.
+ *
+ * boost::filesystem::path::basename differs from g_path_get_basename and
+ * ::basename and most other forms of basename in that it removes the
+ * extension from the filename if the filename has one.
+ */ 
 string basename (const path& p);
 
 } // namespace sys