diff --git a/lib/rules/no-multiple-empty-lines.js b/lib/rules/no-multiple-empty-lines.js
index 96b04391893..7508164d38e 100644
--- a/lib/rules/no-multiple-empty-lines.js
+++ b/lib/rules/no-multiple-empty-lines.js
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ module.exports = {
 
             "Program:exit": function checkBlankLines(node) {
                 var lines = sourceCode.lines,
-                    fullLines = sourceCode.text.match(/.*(\r\n|\r|\n|\u2028|\u2029)/g),
+                    fullLines = sourceCode.text.match(/.*(\r\n|\r|\n|\u2028|\u2029)/g) || [],
                     firstNonBlankLine = -1,
                     trimmedLines = [],
                     linesRangeStart = [],
diff --git a/tests/lib/rules/no-multiple-empty-lines.js b/tests/lib/rules/no-multiple-empty-lines.js
index 08c3d402002..d7c5477eb36 100644
--- a/tests/lib/rules/no-multiple-empty-lines.js
+++ b/tests/lib/rules/no-multiple-empty-lines.js
@@ -149,6 +149,10 @@ ruleTester.run("no-multiple-empty-lines", rule, {
         {
             code: "// valid 17\nvar a = 5;\n\n",
             options: [ { max: 0, maxEOF: 1 } ]
+        },
+        {
+            code: "var a = 5;",
+            options: [ { max: 1 } ]
         }
     ],