diff --git a/bin/sh/input.c b/bin/sh/input.c
index 3ceaea40e39f..12f285f8b423 100644
--- a/bin/sh/input.c
+++ b/bin/sh/input.c
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ retry:
 		if (rl_cp == NULL)
 			rl_cp = el_gets(el, &el_len);
 		if (rl_cp == NULL)
-			nr = 0;
+			nr = el_len == 0 ? 0 : -1;
 		else {
 			nr = el_len;
 			if (nr > BUFSIZ)