diff --git a/glib/gtestutils.c b/glib/gtestutils.c
index 881789087..80f7b4961 100644
--- a/glib/gtestutils.c
+++ b/glib/gtestutils.c
@@ -150,7 +150,6 @@
  *   setlocale (LC_ALL, "");
  *
  *   g_test_init (&argc, &argv, NULL);
- *   g_test_bug_base ("http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=");
  *
  *   // Define the tests.
  *   g_test_add ("/my-object/test1", MyObjectFixture, "some-user-data",
@@ -1887,6 +1886,9 @@ g_test_message (const char *format,
  * portion to @uri_pattern, or by replacing the special string
  * '\%s' within @uri_pattern if that is present.
  *
+ * If g_test_bug_base() is not called, bug URIs are formed solely
+ * from the value provided by g_test_bug().
+ *
  * Since: 2.16
  */
 void
@@ -1903,7 +1905,9 @@ g_test_bug_base (const char *uri_pattern)
  * This function adds a message to test reports that
  * associates a bug URI with a test case.
  * Bug URIs are constructed from a base URI set with g_test_bug_base()
- * and @bug_uri_snippet.
+ * and @bug_uri_snippet. If g_test_bug_base() has not been called, it is
+ * assumed to be the empty string, so a full URI can be provided to
+ * g_test_bug() instead.
  *
  * Since: 2.16
  * See also: g_test_summary()
@@ -1911,12 +1915,12 @@ g_test_bug_base (const char *uri_pattern)
 void
 g_test_bug (const char *bug_uri_snippet)
 {
-  char *c;
+  const char *c = NULL;
 
-  g_return_if_fail (test_uri_base != NULL);
   g_return_if_fail (bug_uri_snippet != NULL);
 
-  c = strstr (test_uri_base, "%s");
+  if (test_uri_base != NULL)
+    c = strstr (test_uri_base, "%s");
   if (c)
     {
       char *b = g_strndup (test_uri_base, c - test_uri_base);
@@ -1926,7 +1930,8 @@ g_test_bug (const char *bug_uri_snippet)
       g_free (s);
     }
   else
-    g_test_message ("Bug Reference: %s%s", test_uri_base, bug_uri_snippet);
+    g_test_message ("Bug Reference: %s%s",
+                    test_uri_base ? test_uri_base : "", bug_uri_snippet);
 }
 
 /**