diff --git a/contrib/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/contrib/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 78ac3cb305..f50b37d413 100755
--- a/contrib/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/contrib/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ if (defined $indent) {
 		or (defined $tabs_before_spaces and defined $this_tabs_before_spaces
 			and $this_tabs_before_spaces != $tabs_before_spaces);
 }
-$indent = $this_indent;
+$indent = $this_indent if $_ ne '';
 
 # Further on we process stuff without comments.
 $_ = $line;