diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index bb98747..a83f385 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/tjboldt/ProDOS-Utilities/prodos"
 )
 
-const version = "0.4.4"
+const version = "0.4.5"
 
 func main() {
 	var fileName string
diff --git a/prodos/basic.go b/prodos/basic.go
index f1799d3..57befbf 100644
--- a/prodos/basic.go
+++ b/prodos/basic.go
@@ -190,6 +190,9 @@ func ConvertTextToBasic(text string) ([]byte, error) {
 
 		// skip initial whitespace and look for the start of a line number
 		if starting {
+			if c == '\n' { // skip blank lines
+				continue
+			}
 			if c == ' ' {
 				continue
 			}
@@ -230,6 +233,7 @@ func ConvertTextToBasic(text string) ([]byte, error) {
 				parsingRem = false
 				parsingString = false
 				foundToken = false
+				skipChars = 0
 				currentByte += basicLine.Len()
 				currentByte += 3
 				// write address of next line