diff --git a/lib/Epub/Epub/parsers/ChapterHtmlSlimParser.cpp b/lib/Epub/Epub/parsers/ChapterHtmlSlimParser.cpp
index 602dcbf2..53359179 100644
--- a/lib/Epub/Epub/parsers/ChapterHtmlSlimParser.cpp
+++ b/lib/Epub/Epub/parsers/ChapterHtmlSlimParser.cpp
@@ -142,8 +142,10 @@ void XMLCALL ChapterHtmlSlimParser::startElement(void* userData, const XML_Char*
     self->boldUntilDepth = std::min(self->boldUntilDepth, self->depth);
   } else if (matches(name, BLOCK_TAGS, NUM_BLOCK_TAGS)) {
     if (strcmp(name, "br") == 0) {
-      // flush word preceding <br/> to currentTextBlock before calling startNewTextBlock
-      self->flushPartWordBuffer();
+      if (self->partWordBufferIndex > 0) {
+        // flush word preceding <br/> to currentTextBlock before calling startNewTextBlock
+        self->flushPartWordBuffer();
+      }
       self->startNewTextBlock(self->currentTextBlock->getStyle());
     } else {
       self->startNewTextBlock((TextBlock::Style)self->paragraphAlignment);