diff --git a/runtime/lua/vim/filetype.lua b/runtime/lua/vim/filetype.lua
index 5ca0c38c2a..3734d31205 100644
--- a/runtime/lua/vim/filetype.lua
+++ b/runtime/lua/vim/filetype.lua
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@ end
 ---@param end_lnum integer|nil The line number of the last line (inclusive, 1-based)
 ---@return string[] # Array of lines
 function M._getlines(bufnr, start_lnum, end_lnum)
+  if not bufnr or bufnr < 0 then
+    return {}
+  end
+
   if start_lnum then
     return api.nvim_buf_get_lines(bufnr, start_lnum - 1, end_lnum or start_lnum, false)
   end
@@ -61,6 +65,10 @@ end
 ---@param start_lnum integer The line number of the first line (inclusive, 1-based)
 ---@return string
 function M._getline(bufnr, start_lnum)
+  if not bufnr or bufnr < 0 then
+    return ''
+  end
+
   -- Return a single line
   return api.nvim_buf_get_lines(bufnr, start_lnum - 1, start_lnum, false)[1] or ''
 end
diff --git a/test/functional/lua/filetype_spec.lua b/test/functional/lua/filetype_spec.lua
index e52f64eab3..b6622472af 100644
--- a/test/functional/lua/filetype_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/lua/filetype_spec.lua
@@ -55,6 +55,26 @@ describe('vim.filetype', function()
     )
   end)
 
+  it('works with filenames that call _getlines() internally #36272', function()
+    eq(
+      'sh',
+      exec_lua(function()
+        vim.g.ft_ignore_pat = '\\.\\(Z\\|gz\\|bz2\\|zip\\|tgz\\)$'
+        return vim.filetype.match({ filename = 'main.sh' })
+      end)
+    )
+  end)
+
+  it('works with filenames that call _getline() internally #36272', function()
+    eq(
+      'text',
+      exec_lua(function()
+        vim.g.ft_ignore_pat = '\\.\\(Z\\|gz\\|bz2\\|zip\\|tgz\\)$'
+        return vim.filetype.match({ filename = 'main.txt' })
+      end)
+    )
+  end)
+
   it('works with filenames', function()
     eq(
       'nim',