diff --git a/Orange/widgets/data/owfile.py b/Orange/widgets/data/owfile.py
index 4596deaac2e..9dd1ad7a466 100644
--- a/Orange/widgets/data/owfile.py
+++ b/Orange/widgets/data/owfile.py
@@ -120,6 +120,9 @@ class Error(widget.OWWidget.Error):
         sheet_error = widget.Msg("Error listing available sheets.")
         unknown = widget.Msg("Read error:\n{}")
 
+    class NoFileSelected:
+        pass
+
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__()
         RecentPathsWComboMixin.__init__(self)
@@ -306,6 +309,10 @@ def _try_load(self):
             assert self.reader is not None
         except Exception:
             return self.Error.missing_reader
+        
+        if self.reader is self.NoFileSelected:
+            self.Outputs.data.send(None)
+            return
 
         try:
             self._update_sheet_combo()
@@ -338,6 +345,8 @@ def _get_reader(self):
         """
         if self.source == self.LOCAL_FILE:
             path = self.last_path()
+            if path is None:
+                return self.NoFileSelected
             if self.recent_paths and self.recent_paths[0].file_format:
                 qname = self.recent_paths[0].file_format
                 reader_class = class_from_qualified_name(qname)
@@ -351,6 +360,8 @@ def _get_reader(self):
             url = self.url_combo.currentText().strip()
             if url:
                 return UrlReader(url)
+            else:
+                return self.NoFileSelected
 
     def _update_sheet_combo(self):
         if len(self.reader.sheets) < 2:
diff --git a/Orange/widgets/data/tests/test_owfile.py b/Orange/widgets/data/tests/test_owfile.py
index 315d5c7cfdd..75aec949f88 100644
--- a/Orange/widgets/data/tests/test_owfile.py
+++ b/Orange/widgets/data/tests/test_owfile.py
@@ -176,6 +176,19 @@ def test_file_not_found(self):
         self.open_dataset("iris")
         self.assertFalse(self.widget.Error.file_not_found.is_shown())
 
+    def test_nothing_selected(self):
+        widget = self.widget = \
+            self.create_widget(OWFile, stored_settings={"recent_paths": []})
+        
+        widget.Outputs.data.send = Mock()
+        widget._try_load()
+        widget.Outputs.data.send.assert_called_with(None)
+
+        widget.Outputs.data.send.reset_mock()
+        widget.source = widget.URL
+        widget._try_load()
+        widget.Outputs.data.send.assert_called_with(None)
+
     def test_check_column_noname(self):
         """
         Column name cannot be changed to an empty string or a string with whitespaces.