diff --git a/src/utils.c b/src/utils.c
index 350ccccd..494243b6 100644
--- a/src/utils.c
+++ b/src/utils.c
@@ -118,7 +118,9 @@ bool parse_line_column(const char *str, int *line, ssize_t *column)
     comma = strchr(str, ',');
 
     if (comma != NULL && column != NULL) {
-	if (!parse_num(&str[comma - str + 1], column))
+	const char *str_line = str + (comma - str + 1);
+
+	if (str_line[0] != '\0' && !parse_num(str_line, column))
 	    retval = FALSE;
     }