diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index a38eacb1f..5e484652b 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ Bugs fixed
 * #2394: Fix Sphinx crashes when html_last_updated_fmt is invalid
 * #2408: dummy builder not available in Makefile and make.bat
 * #2412: Fix hyperlink targets are broken in LaTeX builder
+* Fix figure directive crashes if non paragraph item is given as caption
 
 
 Release 1.4 (released Mar 28, 2016)
diff --git a/sphinx/directives/patches.py b/sphinx/directives/patches.py
index 7e00bc81c..dcdc41a17 100644
--- a/sphinx/directives/patches.py
+++ b/sphinx/directives/patches.py
@@ -19,10 +19,11 @@ class Figure(images.Figure):
 
     def run(self):
         name = self.options.pop('name', None)
-        (figure_node,) = images.Figure.run(self)
-        if isinstance(figure_node, nodes.system_message):
-            return [figure_node]
+        result = images.Figure.run(self)
+        if len(result) == 2 or isinstance(result[0], nodes.system_message):
+            return result
 
+        (figure_node,) = result
         if name:
             self.options['name'] = name
             self.add_name(figure_node)