diff --git a/grep.c b/grep.c
index 7bf4a60..92a47c7 100644
--- a/grep.c
+++ b/grep.c
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@
 
 	if (hit && p->word_regexp) {
 		if ((pmatch[0].rm_so < 0) ||
-		    (eol - bol) <= pmatch[0].rm_so ||
+		    (eol - bol) < pmatch[0].rm_so ||
 		    (pmatch[0].rm_eo < 0) ||
 		    (eol - bol) < pmatch[0].rm_eo)
 			die("regexp returned nonsense");
@@ -350,6 +350,10 @@
 		else
 			hit = 0;
 
+		/* Words consist of at least one character. */
+		if (pmatch->rm_so == pmatch->rm_eo)
+			hit = 0;
+
 		if (!hit && pmatch[0].rm_so + bol + 1 < eol) {
 			/* There could be more than one match on the
 			 * line, and the first match might not be