diff --git a/.htaccess b/.htaccess
index 3479f16817bc32e9327c3572c440ab1ff781978f..93e59c3479da9ea05641249ead3919279956ffcd 100644
--- a/.htaccess
+++ b/.htaccess
@@ -13,9 +13,14 @@ Options -Indexes
 # Follow symbolic links in this directory.
 Options +FollowSymLinks
 
-# Customized error messages.
+# Make Drupal handle any 404 errors.
 ErrorDocument 404 /index.php
 
+# Force simple error message for requests for non-existent favicon.ico.
+<Files favicon.ico>
+  ErrorDocument 404 "The requested file favicon.ico was not found."
+</Files>
+
 # Set the default handler.
 DirectoryIndex index.php
 
@@ -77,6 +82,7 @@ DirectoryIndex index.php
   # Rewrite URLs of the form 'index.php?q=x'.
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
+  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !=/favicon.ico
   RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?q=$1 [L,QSA]
 </IfModule>