diff --git a/libguile/numbers.c b/libguile/numbers.c
index 24c1e0f9a..4a177ca2c 100644
--- a/libguile/numbers.c
+++ b/libguile/numbers.c
@@ -1244,8 +1244,9 @@ SCM_DEFINE (scm_integer_expt, "integer-expt", 2, 0, 0,
   SCM acc = SCM_MAKINUM (1L);
   int i2;
 #ifdef SCM_BIGDIG
+  /* 0^0 == 1 according to R5RS */
   if (SCM_EQ_P (n, SCM_INUM0) || SCM_EQ_P (n, acc))
-    return acc;
+    return SCM_EQ_P (k, SCM_INUM0)? acc : n;
   else if (SCM_EQ_P (n, SCM_MAKINUM (-1L)))
     return SCM_FALSEP (scm_even_p (k)) ? n : acc;
 #endif