diff --git a/src/output/output_hls.cpp b/src/output/output_hls.cpp
index 0e295fd8..c1763885 100644
--- a/src/output/output_hls.cpp
+++ b/src/output/output_hls.cpp
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ namespace Mist {
       lines.push_back(lineBuf);
     }
     unsigned int skippedLines = 0;
-    if (myMeta.live){
+    if (myMeta.live && lines.size()) {
       //only print the last segment when VoD
       lines.pop_back();
     }