diff --git a/lib/strings.nix b/lib/strings.nix
index eb3c2971ad5..44b6f8780c8 100644
--- a/lib/strings.nix
+++ b/lib/strings.nix
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ rec {
       lines =
         builtins.map (lib.removeSuffix "\n")
         (lib.splitString "\n" (builtins.readFile file));
-      removeComments = lib.filter (line: !(lib.hasPrefix "#" line));
+      removeComments = lib.filter (line: line != "" && !(lib.hasPrefix "#" line));
       relativePaths = removeComments lines;
       absolutePaths = builtins.map (path: builtins.toPath (root + "/" + path)) relativePaths;
     in