diff --git a/applications/utilities/mesh/conversion/gmshToFoam/gmshToFoam.C b/applications/utilities/mesh/conversion/gmshToFoam/gmshToFoam.C
index b91672b162..56f7cd9179 100644
--- a/applications/utilities/mesh/conversion/gmshToFoam/gmshToFoam.C
+++ b/applications/utilities/mesh/conversion/gmshToFoam/gmshToFoam.C
@@ -822,6 +822,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     {
         string line;
         inFile.getLine(line);
+
+        if (line.empty())
+        {
+            continue;
+        }
+
         IStringStream lineStr(line);
 
         word tag(lineStr);