diff --git a/hae.cc b/hae.cc
index 02c1802..26edf94 100644
--- a/hae.cc
+++ b/hae.cc
@@ -75,13 +75,6 @@ std::string read_all()
     std::stringstream ss;
     std::string s;
 
-    // ignore leading newlines
-    while (std::getline(std::cin, s) && s.empty()) {
-        if (!s.empty()) {
-            ss << s << '\n';
-        }
-    }
-
     while (std::getline(std::cin, s)) {
         ss << s << '\n';
     }
@@ -392,9 +385,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     std::stringstream ss(input);
     std::string line;
     while (std::getline(ss, line)) {
-        if (line == "") {
-          break;
-        }
         auto d = std::shared_ptr<rapidjson::Document>(new rapidjson::Document());
         d->Parse(line.c_str());
         if (d->IsNull()) {
diff --git a/test/data/empty_start.txt b/test/data/empty_start.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a244e4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/empty_start.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+
+	Foo | bar	baz
+1. 	
diff --git a/test/run_tests.sh b/test/run_tests.sh
index 02e2239..4bdefea 100755
--- a/test/run_tests.sh
+++ b/test/run_tests.sh
@@ -12,13 +12,16 @@ function error_hook() {
 trap error_hook ERR
 
 $HAE_PATH/hae "a detailed description of food" < data/meta.txt -n 3 -hl > res_t1.txt
-diff t1.txt res_t1.txt
+cmp t1.txt res_t1.txt
 
 cat data/meta.json | jq -c .[] | $HAE_PATH/hae "the time" -n 1 > res_t2.txt
-diff t2.txt res_t2.txt
+cmp t2.txt res_t2.txt
 
 cat data/newline_at_start.txt | $HAE_PATH/hae "foo" > res_t3.txt
-diff t3.txt res_t3.txt
+cmp t3.txt res_t3.txt
 
 cat data/single_line.txt | $HAE_PATH/hae "foo" > res_t4.txt
-diff t4.txt res_t4.txt
+cmp t4.txt res_t4.txt
+
+cat data/empty_start.txt | $HAE_PATH/hae "foo" > res_t5.txt
+cmp t5.txt res_t5.txt
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/t3.txt b/test/t3.txt
index a29bd34..1fc7aff 100644
--- a/test/t3.txt
+++ b/test/t3.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
-This is a test
+
+This is a test
 
 
diff --git a/test/t4.txt b/test/t4.txt
index e69de29..5a4e112 100644
--- a/test/t4.txt
+++ b/test/t4.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+This is a test
+
+
diff --git a/test/t5.txt b/test/t5.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6fb3115
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/t5.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+
+	Foo | bar	baz
+1. 	
+
+