diff --git a/xsel.c b/xsel.c
index 0dd9bd4..5c1b57e 100644
--- a/xsel.c
+++ b/xsel.c
@@ -2344,7 +2344,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
     if(trim_trailing_newline) {
       unsigned int sel_len = xs_strlen(new_sel);
-      if (new_sel[sel_len - 1 ] == '\n') {
+      if (sel_len && new_sel[sel_len - 1 ] == '\n') {
         new_sel[sel_len - 1] = '\0';
       }
     }