diff --git a/builtin-shortlog.c b/builtin-shortlog.c
index fa8bc7d02a2268d99dcc829cb3adbee10c949306..f08095bc91b92ad93560459d060259bd5df52c4a 100644
--- a/builtin-shortlog.c
+++ b/builtin-shortlog.c
@@ -74,11 +74,12 @@ static void insert_one_record(struct path_list *list,
 	else
 		free(buffer);
 
+	/* Skip any leading whitespace, including any blank lines. */
+	while (*oneline && isspace(*oneline))
+		oneline++;
 	eol = strchr(oneline, '\n');
 	if (!eol)
 		eol = oneline + strlen(oneline);
-	while (*oneline && isspace(*oneline) && *oneline != '\n')
-		oneline++;
 	if (!prefixcmp(oneline, "[PATCH")) {
 		char *eob = strchr(oneline, ']');
 		if (eob && (!eol || eob < eol))