diff --git a/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel-tangle.el b/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel-tangle.el
index c805373..103cc44 100644
--- a/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel-tangle.el
+++ b/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel-tangle.el
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ exported source code blocks by language."
                                       (file-name-sans-extension (buffer-file-name)))
                                      ((string= "no" tangle) nil)
                                      ((> (length tangle) 0) tangle))
-                                    target-file))
+                                    (or target-file buffer-file-name)))
                      (file-name (when base-name
                                   (if (string= base-name
                                                (file-name-sans-extension base-name))