diff -r 2471b0509cd5 src/latex.el
--- a/src/latex.el	Fri Jan 30 20:17:30 2009 +0100
+++ b/src/latex.el	Fri Feb 06 23:02:08 2009 +0100
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@
 
   (interactive "*P")
   (let ((environment (completing-read (concat "Environment type: (default "
-					       (if (TeX-near-bobp)
+					       (if (TeX-near-bobp t)
 						   "document"
 						 LaTeX-default-environment)
 					       ") ")
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@
 				      'LaTeX-environment-history)))
     ;; Get default
     (cond ((and (zerop (length environment))
-		(TeX-near-bobp))
+		(TeX-near-bobp t))
 	   (setq environment "document"))
 	  ((zerop (length environment))
 	   (setq environment LaTeX-default-environment))
diff -r 2471b0509cd5 src/tex.el
--- a/src/tex.el	Fri Jan 30 20:17:30 2009 +0100
+++ b/src/tex.el	Fri Feb 06 23:02:08 2009 +0100
@@ -3524,10 +3524,22 @@
    (buffer-file-name)
    (TeX-master-directory)))
 
-(defun TeX-near-bobp ()
-  "Return t iff there's nothing but whitespace between (bob) and (point)."
-  (save-excursion
-    (skip-chars-backward " \t\n")
+(defun TeX-in-whitespace-line ()
+  "Return nun-nil if point is in a line consisting only of whitespace."
+  (forward-line 0)
+  (skip-chars-forward " \t")
+  (eolp))
+
+(defun TeX-near-bobp (&optional ignore-comments)
+  "Return t iff there's nothing but whitespace between (bob) and (point).
+For a non-nil IGNORE-COMMENTS lines consisting only of a comment will be
+treated in the same way."
+  (save-excursion
+    (while (and (or (TeX-in-whitespace-line)
+                    (and ignore-comments (TeX-in-commented-line)))
+		(not (bobp)))
+      (forward-line -1))
+    (forward-line 0)
     (bobp)))
 
 (defun TeX-deactivate-mark ()