diff --git a/ext/standard/streamsfuncs.c b/ext/standard/streamsfuncs.c
index 7547cd4057d..29a62fe076c 100644
--- a/ext/standard/streamsfuncs.c
+++ b/ext/standard/streamsfuncs.c
@@ -425,8 +425,11 @@ PHP_FUNCTION(stream_get_contents)
 
 	php_stream_from_zval(stream, &zsrc);
 
-	if ((pos > 0 || (pos == 0 && ZEND_NUM_ARGS() > 2)) && php_stream_seek(stream, pos, SEEK_SET) < 0) {
-		php_error_docref(NULL TSRMLS_CC, E_WARNING, "Failed to seek to position %ld in the stream", pos);
+	if ((pos != 0L) && php_stream_seek(stream, pos, SEEK_CUR) < 0) {
+		php_error_docref(NULL TSRMLS_CC, E_WARNING, "Failed to seek %ld bytes from current position in the stream", pos);
+		RETURN_FALSE;
+	} else if (pos < 0L) {
+		php_error_docref(NULL TSRMLS_CC, E_WARNING, "Number of bytes to seek must be non-negative, given %ld", pos);
 		RETURN_FALSE;
 	}