diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 8ba47c79f..e2e6216fc 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
 Bug Handling
 ------------
 
+* FileOutput no longer panics when using `format = "text"` and payload is nil
+  (issue #843).
+
 * Fix SandboxDecoder pass-through case so decoders that only use write_message
   and not inject_message will emit messages correctly (issue #844).
 
diff --git a/plugins/file/file_output.go b/plugins/file/file_output.go
index befd052c5..cc85363e0 100644
--- a/plugins/file/file_output.go
+++ b/plugins/file/file_output.go
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ func (o *FileOutput) handleMessage(pack *PipelinePack, outBytes *[]byte) (err er
 			err = fmt.Errorf("Can't encode to JSON: %s", err)
 		}
 	case "text":
-		*outBytes = append(*outBytes, *pack.Message.Payload...)
+		*outBytes = append(*outBytes, pack.Message.GetPayload()...)
 		*outBytes = append(*outBytes, NEWLINE)
 	case "protobufstream":
 		if err = ProtobufEncodeMessage(pack, &*outBytes); err != nil {
diff --git a/plugins/file/file_output_test.go b/plugins/file/file_output_test.go
index 6e6092c4b..e9de8bae6 100644
--- a/plugins/file/file_output_test.go
+++ b/plugins/file/file_output_test.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -68,13 +69,15 @@ func FileOutputSpec(c gs.Context) {
 			outData := make([]byte, 0, 20)
 
 			c.Specify("by default", func() {
-				fileOutput.handleMessage(pack, &outData)
+				err = fileOutput.handleMessage(pack, &outData)
+				c.Expect(err, gs.IsNil)
 				c.Expect(toString(&outData), gs.Equals, *msg.Payload+"\n")
 			})
 
 			c.Specify("w/ a prepended timestamp when specified", func() {
 				fileOutput.prefix_ts = true
-				fileOutput.handleMessage(pack, &outData)
+				err = fileOutput.handleMessage(pack, &outData)
+				c.Expect(err, gs.IsNil)
 				// Test will fail if date flips btn handleMessage call and
 				// todayStr calculation... should be extremely rare.
 				todayStr := time.Now().Format("[2006/Jan/02:")
@@ -83,6 +86,27 @@ func FileOutputSpec(c gs.Context) {
 				c.Expect(strContents, pipeline_ts.StringContains, payload)
 				c.Expect(strContents, pipeline_ts.StringStartsWith, todayStr)
 			})
+
+			c.Specify("even when payload is nil", func() {
+				pack.Message.Payload = nil
+				err = fileOutput.handleMessage(pack, &outData)
+				c.Expect(err, gs.IsNil)
+				strContents := toString(&outData)
+				c.Expect(strContents, gs.Equals, "\n")
+			})
+
+			c.Specify("payload is nil and with a timestamp", func() {
+				pack.Message.Payload = nil
+				fileOutput.prefix_ts = true
+				err = fileOutput.handleMessage(pack, &outData)
+				c.Expect(err, gs.IsNil)
+				// Test will fail if date flips btn handleMessage call and
+				// todayStr calculation... should be extremely rare.
+				todayStr := time.Now().Format("[2006/Jan/02:")
+				strContents := toString(&outData)
+				c.Expect(strings.HasPrefix(strContents, todayStr), gs.IsTrue)
+				c.Expect(strings.HasSuffix(strContents, " \n"), gs.IsTrue)
+			})
 		})
 
 		c.Specify("correctly formats JSON output", func() {