diff --git a/inc/parser/xhtml.php b/inc/parser/xhtml.php
index 2b9e30b988a4ae0bd3792e013f760f3d16b5cf84..3ef51a7b3bd74e791fc51784416f2e0f74657f65 100644
--- a/inc/parser/xhtml.php
+++ b/inc/parser/xhtml.php
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ class Doku_Renderer_xhtml extends Doku_Renderer {
     }
 
     function header($text, $level, $pos) {
+        if(!$text) return; //skip empty headlines
 
         $hid = $this->_headerToLink($text,true);