diff --git a/src/system/libroot/os/image.c b/src/system/libroot/os/image.c
index 13ad1b6168..cc101efa4a 100644
--- a/src/system/libroot/os/image.c
+++ b/src/system/libroot/os/image.c
@@ -130,7 +130,11 @@ next_argument(char **_start, bool separate)
 		if (line[i] == '\\' && line[i + 1] != '\0')
 			continue;
 
-		if ((!quote && line[i] == ' ') || line[i] == quote || line[i] == '\0') {
+		if (line[i] == '\0') {
+			*_start = &line[i];
+			return line;
+		}
+		if ((!quote && line[i] == ' ') || line[i] == quote) {
 			// argument separator!
 			if (separate)
 				line[i] = '\0';