diff --git a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ChannelBufferInputStream.java b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ChannelBufferInputStream.java
index 0fd6d52d97..0d5d4f163c 100644
--- a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ChannelBufferInputStream.java
+++ b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ChannelBufferInputStream.java
@@ -195,9 +195,10 @@ public class ChannelBufferInputStream extends InputStream implements DataInput {
             lineBuf.append((char) b);
         }
 
-        while ( lineBuf.length() > 0 &&
-                lineBuf.charAt(lineBuf.length() - 1) == '\r') {
-            lineBuf.setLength(lineBuf.length() - 1);
+        if (lineBuf.length() > 0 ) {
+            while (lineBuf.charAt(lineBuf.length() - 1) == '\r') {
+                lineBuf.setLength(lineBuf.length() - 1);
+            }
         }
 
         return lineBuf.toString();