diff --git a/Modules/MitkExt/Testing/mitkSurfaceToImageFilterTest.cpp b/Modules/MitkExt/Testing/mitkSurfaceToImageFilterTest.cpp
index 805d7bc503..4b64ba4079 100644
--- a/Modules/MitkExt/Testing/mitkSurfaceToImageFilterTest.cpp
+++ b/Modules/MitkExt/Testing/mitkSurfaceToImageFilterTest.cpp
@@ -1,117 +1,124 @@
 /*=========================================================================
 
 Program:   Medical Imaging & Interaction Toolkit
 Language:  C++
 Date:      $Date$
 Version:   $Revision$
 
 Copyright (c) German Cancer Research Center, Division of Medical and
 Biological Informatics. All rights reserved.
 See MITKCopyright.txt or http://www.mitk.org/copyright.html for details.
 
 This software is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even
 the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
 PURPOSE.  See the above copyright notices for more information.
 
 =========================================================================*/
 
 
 #include "mitkSurfaceToImageFilter.h"
 #include "mitkDataNodeFactory.h"
 #include "mitkPicFileWriter.h"
 #include <mitkSTLFileReader.h>
 
 #include <vtkPolyData.h>
 
 #include <fstream>
 
 int mitkSurfaceToImageFilterTest(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
   mitk::SurfaceToImageFilter::Pointer s2iFilter;
   std::cout << "Testing mitk::Surface::New(): " << std::flush;
   s2iFilter = mitk::SurfaceToImageFilter::New();
   if (s2iFilter.IsNull()) 
   {
     std::cout<<"[FAILED]"<<std::endl;
     return EXIT_FAILURE;
   }
   else 
   {
     std::cout<<"[PASSED]"<<std::endl;
   } 
 
   std::cout << "Loading file: " << std::flush;
   if(argc==0)
   {
     std::cout<<"no file specified [FAILED]"<<std::endl;
     return EXIT_FAILURE;
   }
 
+  if (!mitk::STLFileReader::CanReadFile(argv[1], "", ""))
+  {
+    std::cout << "Input file not a valid .stl file [PASSED]\n[TEST DONE]" << std::endl;
+    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+  }
+
   mitk::STLFileReader::Pointer reader = mitk::STLFileReader::New();
+
   reader->SetFileName(argv[1]);
   reader->Update();
 
   mitk::Surface::Pointer surface = NULL;
 
   surface = reader->GetOutput();
 
   if(surface.IsNull())
   {
     std::cout<<"file not a surface - test will not be applied [PASSED]"<<std::endl;
     std::cout<<"[TEST DONE]"<<std::endl;
     return EXIT_SUCCESS;
   }
 
   std::cout << "Testing number of points of surface: " << std::flush;
   if(surface->GetVtkPolyData()->GetNumberOfPoints() == 0)
   {
     std::cout<<"number of points is 0 - test will not be applied [PASSED]"<<std::endl;
     std::cout<<"[TEST DONE]"<<std::endl;
     return EXIT_SUCCESS;
   }
 
   std::cout << "Testing creation of mitk::Image with same Geometry as Surface: " << std::flush;
   mitk::Image::Pointer image = mitk::Image::New();
   //surface->UpdateOutputInformation(); //is not necessary anymore (bug #1536), should never be neccessary
   image->Initialize( mitk::MakeScalarPixelType<unsigned int>(), *surface->GetGeometry());
 
   std::cout << "Testing mitk::SurfaceToImageFilter::MakeOutputBinaryOn(): " << std::flush;
   s2iFilter->MakeOutputBinaryOn();
   std::cout<<"[PASSED]"<<std::endl;
 
   std::cout << "Testing mitk::SurfaceToImageFilter::SetInput(): " << std::flush;
   s2iFilter->SetInput(surface);
   std::cout<<"[PASSED]"<<std::endl;
 
   std::cout << "Testing mitk::SurfaceToImageFilter::SetImage(): " << std::flush;
   s2iFilter->SetImage(image);
   std::cout<<"[PASSED]"<<std::endl;
 
   std::cout << "Testing mitk::SurfaceToImageFilter::Update(): " << std::flush;
   s2iFilter->Update();
   std::cout<<"[PASSED]"<<std::endl;
 
 #ifdef WIN32     // Unix based systems do not seem to resolve pixel type correctly
 
   std::cout << "Testing if result image is of type unsigned char: " << std::flush;
   //std::string typeId = s2iFilter->GetOutput()->GetPixelType().GetItkTypeAsString();
   std::string typeId = s2iFilter->GetOutput()->GetPixelType().GetComponentTypeAsString();
   std::cout << std::endl << "XXX: " << typeId << std::endl;
   if( typeId != "unsigned char" )
   {
     if(typeId != "unknown")
       return EXIT_FAILURE;
     else std::cout << "Warning: Pixel type can't be resolved." << std::flush;
   }
   std::cout<<"[PASSED]"<<std::endl;
 
 #endif
 
   //mitk::PicFileWriter::Pointer picWriter = mitk::PicFileWriter::New();
   //picWriter->SetInput(s2iFilter->GetOutput());
   //picWriter->SetFileName("SurfaceToImageFilterTestOutput.pic");
   //picWriter->Write();
 
   std::cout<<"[TEST DONE]"<<std::endl;
   return EXIT_SUCCESS;
 }