diff --git a/libavcodec/ass_split.c b/libavcodec/ass_split.c
index 7ee48b4a5c..4ef3092cf8 100644
--- a/libavcodec/ass_split.c
+++ b/libavcodec/ass_split.c
@@ -267,7 +267,8 @@ static const char *ass_split_section(ASSSplitContext *ctx, const char *buf)
                     }
             }
         }
-        buf += strcspn(buf, "\n") + 1;
+        buf += strcspn(buf, "\n");
+        buf += !!*buf;
     }
     return buf;
 }