diff --git a/gem300.rkt b/gem300.rkt
index 99d6363..3989a2a 100644
--- a/gem300.rkt
+++ b/gem300.rkt
@@ -149,10 +149,14 @@
                       (inner-iter (list) rst)])
           (outer-iter (append acc (list inner-acc)) inner-rst))))
 
-  ;; join each sublist into one string, and display one string per
-  ;; line
-  (for-each displayln
-            (map string-join (outer-iter (list) (string-split paragraph)))))
+  ;; the algorithm implemented here does not work for empty
+  ;; paragraphs. thus, they are handled as a special case here.
+  (if (non-empty-string? paragraph)
+      ;; join each sublist into one string, and display one string per
+      ;; line
+      (for-each displayln
+                (map string-join (outer-iter (list) (string-split paragraph))))
+      (newline)))
 
 (define (render-gemtext document)
   (for-each (λ (line)