diff --git a/src/patchelf.cc b/src/patchelf.cc
index c8fb56a4..5c1fc0ee 100644
--- a/src/patchelf.cc
+++ b/src/patchelf.cc
@@ -997,9 +997,6 @@ void ElfFile<ElfFileParamNames>::rewriteSectionsExecutable()
        Stop when we reach an irreplacable section (such as one of type
        SHT_PROGBITS).  These cannot be moved in virtual address space
        since that would invalidate absolute references to them. */
-    assert(lastReplaced + 1 < shdrs.size()); /* !!! I'm lazy. */
-    size_t startOffset = rdi(shdrs.at(lastReplaced + 1).sh_offset);
-    Elf_Addr startAddr = rdi(shdrs.at(lastReplaced + 1).sh_addr);
     std::string prevSection;
     for (unsigned int i = 1; i <= lastReplaced; ++i) {
         Elf_Shdr & shdr(shdrs.at(i));
@@ -1010,8 +1007,6 @@ void ElfFile<ElfFileParamNames>::rewriteSectionsExecutable()
         if ((rdi(shdr.sh_type) == SHT_PROGBITS && sectionName != ".interp")
             || prevSection == ".dynstr")
         {
-            startOffset = rdi(shdr.sh_offset);
-            startAddr = rdi(shdr.sh_addr);
             lastReplaced = i - 1;
             break;
         }
@@ -1022,6 +1017,13 @@ void ElfFile<ElfFileParamNames>::rewriteSectionsExecutable()
         prevSection = std::move(sectionName);
     }
 
+    while (lastReplaced < shdrs.size() && shdrs.at(lastReplaced).sh_type == SHT_NOBITS)
+        ++lastReplaced;
+
+    assert(lastReplaced + 1 < shdrs.size()); /* !!! I'm lazy. */
+    size_t startOffset = rdi(shdrs.at(lastReplaced + 1).sh_offset);
+    Elf_Addr startAddr = rdi(shdrs.at(lastReplaced + 1).sh_addr);
+
     debug("first reserved offset/addr is 0x%x/0x%llx\n",
         startOffset, (unsigned long long) startAddr);
 
@@ -1238,7 +1240,7 @@ void ElfFile<ElfFileParamNames>::rewriteHeaders(Elf_Addr phdrAddress)
        section.  Note that not all executables have .dynamic sections
        (e.g., those produced by klibc's klcc). */
     auto shdrDynamic = tryFindSectionHeader(".dynamic");
-    if (shdrDynamic) {
+    if (shdrDynamic && rdi((*shdrDynamic).get().sh_type) != SHT_NOBITS) {
         auto dyn_table = (Elf_Dyn *) (fileContents->data() + rdi((*shdrDynamic).get().sh_offset));
         unsigned int d_tag;
         for (auto dyn = dyn_table; (d_tag = rdi(dyn->d_tag)) != DT_NULL; dyn++)
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index b08929f1..3a54c5f6 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ src_TESTS = \
   shared-rpath.sh \
   short-first-segment.sh \
   empty-note.sh \
-  set-interpreter-same.sh
+  set-interpreter-same.sh \
+  debug-interp.sh
 
 build_TESTS = \
   $(no_rpath_arch_TESTS)
diff --git a/tests/debug-interp.sh b/tests/debug-interp.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..77ce2ee4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/debug-interp.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#! /bin/sh -e
+SCRATCH=scratch/$(basename "$0" .sh)
+OBJCOPY=${OBJCOPY:-objcopy}
+
+rm -rf "${SCRATCH}"
+mkdir -p "${SCRATCH}"
+
+cp simple "${SCRATCH}/"
+
+${OBJCOPY} --only-keep-debug "${SCRATCH}/simple" "${SCRATCH}/simple.debug"
+
+# Check if patchelf handles debug-only executables
+../src/patchelf --set-interpreter /oops "${SCRATCH}/simple.debug"