diff --git a/lib/puppet-lint/plugins/check_whitespace/trailing_whitespace.rb b/lib/puppet-lint/plugins/check_whitespace/trailing_whitespace.rb
index 4af40b73..7d34feb2 100644
--- a/lib/puppet-lint/plugins/check_whitespace/trailing_whitespace.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet-lint/plugins/check_whitespace/trailing_whitespace.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def fix(problem)
 
     prev_token = problem[:token].prev_token
     next_token = problem[:token].next_token
-    prev_token.next_token = next_token
+    prev_token.next_token = next_token unless prev_token.nil?
     next_token.prev_token = prev_token unless next_token.nil?
     tokens.delete(problem[:token])
   end
diff --git a/spec/unit/puppet-lint/plugins/check_whitespace/trailing_whitespace_spec.rb b/spec/unit/puppet-lint/plugins/check_whitespace/trailing_whitespace_spec.rb
index 55db6c06..12eb8d67 100644
--- a/spec/unit/puppet-lint/plugins/check_whitespace/trailing_whitespace_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/puppet-lint/plugins/check_whitespace/trailing_whitespace_spec.rb
@@ -105,5 +105,17 @@
         expect(manifest).to eq(fixed)
       end
     end
+
+    context 'empty lines with nothing but whitespace' do
+      let(:code) { " \n " }
+
+      it 'detects problems with both empty lines' do
+        expect(problems).to have(2).problem
+      end
+
+      it 'fixes the manifest' do
+        expect(manifest).to eq("\n")
+      end
+    end
   end
 end