The singular linear preservers of non-singular matrices

Given an arbitrary field K, we reduce the determination of the singular endomorphisms $f$ of M_n(K) that stabilize GL_n(K) to the classification of n-dimensional division algebras over K. Our method, which is based upon Dieudonn\'e's theorem on singular subspaces of M_n(K), also yields a proof for the classical non-singular case.