diff --git a/src/cgroup_attach.cpp b/src/cgroup_attach.cpp
index 4eb5a79..0ce0cf2 100644
--- a/src/cgroup_attach.cpp
+++ b/src/cgroup_attach.cpp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ string get_cgroup2_mount_point() {
   char buf[READ_SIZE_MAX];
   while (fgets(buf, READ_SIZE_MAX, fp.get()) != NULL) { buffer << buf; }
   string s = buffer.str();
-  s.pop_back(); // remove newline character
+  if (!s.empty()) s.pop_back(); // remove newline character
   return s;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/common.cpp b/src/common.cpp
index 18dd4bb..8871064 100644
--- a/src/common.cpp
+++ b/src/common.cpp
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ string bash_which(const string &name) {
   char buf[READ_SIZE_MAX];
   while (fgets(buf, READ_SIZE_MAX, fp.get()) != NULL) { buffer << buf; }
   string s = buffer.str();
-  s.pop_back(); // remove newline character
+  if (!s.empty()) s.pop_back(); // remove newline character
   return s;
 }
 
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ string bash_readlink(const string &path) {
   char buf[READ_SIZE_MAX];
   while (fgets(buf, READ_SIZE_MAX, fp.get()) != NULL) { buffer << buf; }
   string s = buffer.str();
-  s.pop_back(); // remove newline character
+  if (!s.empty()) s.pop_back(); // remove newline character
   return s;
 }