diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index a1d844e..d0f368c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+*1.5.1_rc1* (March 9, 2007)
+
+* Fix readAttribute for IE7. [Andrew Dupont]
+
 *1.5.1_rc0* (March 8, 2007)
 
 * Merge the selector branch into trunk, bringing vast performance improvements, bug fixes, and near-complete CSS3 compliance to $$ and Selector.  Closes #7568.  [Andrew Dupont]
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 843780a..fe59be5 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ PROTOTYPE_ROOT     = File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__))
 PROTOTYPE_SRC_DIR  = File.join(PROTOTYPE_ROOT, 'src')
 PROTOTYPE_DIST_DIR = File.join(PROTOTYPE_ROOT, 'dist')
 PROTOTYPE_PKG_DIR  = File.join(PROTOTYPE_ROOT, 'pkg')
-PROTOTYPE_VERSION  = '1.5.1_rc0'
+PROTOTYPE_VERSION  = '1.5.1_rc1'
 
 task :default => [:dist, :package, :clean_package_source]
 
diff --git a/src/dom.js b/src/dom.js
index 1df63c2..f89b7d4 100644
--- a/src/dom.js
+++ b/src/dom.js
@@ -214,6 +214,7 @@ Element.Methods = {
   readAttribute: function(element, name) {
     element = $(element);
     if (Prototype.Browser.IE) {
+      if (!element.attributes) return null;
       var t = Element._attributeTranslations;
       if (t.values[name]) return t.values[name](element, name);
       if (t.names[name])  name = t.names[name];