BUG #1021: IDENT authorization doesn't work

The following bug has been logged online:

Bug reference: 1021
Logged by: alexeyof
Email address: alexeyof(at)msn(dot)com
PostgreSQL version: 7.4
Operating system: FreeBSD 4.9-STABLE
Description: IDENT authorization doesn't work
Details:

OS: FreeBSD 4.9-STABLE
PG: PostgreSQL 7.4 (installed from ports collection)

pg_hba.conf:

local template1 psql ident sameuser
local all all md5

(where pgsql is database owner)

When I try to start postgres, I get the following continuous error messages:

Dec 19 20:38:06 postgres[1435]: [2-1] FATAL: invalid frontend message type 0
Dec 19 20:38:07 postgres[1439]: [2-1] FATAL: invalid frontend message type 0
Dec 19 20:38:08 postgres[1443]: [2-1] FATAL: invalid frontend message type 0
Dec 19 20:38:09 postgres[1447]: [2-1] FATAL: invalid frontend message type 0
Dec 19 20:38:10 postgres[1451]: [2-1] FATAL: invalid frontend message type 0

After a timeout it seems that postgres has started, I can even connect to 'template1', but when I try to execute any query, it shows the 'FATAL: invalid frontend message type 0' error again and drops the connection.