diff --git a/src/YAML_parse.f90 b/src/YAML_parse.f90
index e589758c9..8013089e1 100644
--- a/src/YAML_parse.f90
+++ b/src/YAML_parse.f90
@@ -168,8 +168,11 @@ logical function quotedString(line)
 
   character(len=*), intent(in) :: line
 
+
   quotedString = .false.
 
+  if (len(line) == 0) return
+
   if (scan(line(:1),IO_QUOTES) == 1) then
     quotedString = .true.
     if(line(len(line):len(line)) /= line(:1)) call IO_error(710,ext_msg=line)