diff --git a/system/nxinit/parser.c b/system/nxinit/parser.c
index 0c91703f8..11c90c00d 100644
--- a/system/nxinit/parser.c
+++ b/system/nxinit/parser.c
@@ -178,6 +178,10 @@ int init_parse_config_file(FAR const struct parser_s *parser,
           *(nl++) = '\0';
           n -= nl - buf;
           init_debug("Line %3d: '%s'", ++line, buf);
+          if (*buf == '\0')
+            {
+              continue;
+            }
 
           /* Skip empty lines and lines containing only whitespace */