diff --git a/maintainers/scripts/check-cherry-picks.sh b/maintainers/scripts/check-cherry-picks.sh
index 082c33fe088a0..6253b97f38d26 100755
--- a/maintainers/scripts/check-cherry-picks.sh
+++ b/maintainers/scripts/check-cherry-picks.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ PICKABLE_BRANCHES=${PICKABLE_BRANCHES:-master staging release-??.?? staging-??.?
 problem=0
 
 while read new_commit_sha ; do
+  if [ -z "$new_commit_sha" ] ; then
+    continue  # skip empty lines
+  fi
   if [ "$GITHUB_ACTIONS" = 'true' ] ; then
     echo "::group::Commit $new_commit_sha"
   else