diff --git a/src/app.cpp b/src/app.cpp
index a9d192d..16727ad 100644
--- a/src/app.cpp
+++ b/src/app.cpp
@@ -526,7 +526,10 @@ Wt::WPushButton* App::createSendButton(Wt::WHBoxLayout* inputLayout, Wt::WLineEd
 }
 
 void App::sendMessage(Wt::WLineEdit *inputLine) {
-    auto utf8String = inputLine->valueText().toUTF8();
+    auto utf8String = inputLine->valueText().trim().toUTF8();
+    if (utf8String == "") {
+        return;
+    }
     size_t pos = 0;
     while ((pos = utf8String.find("<", pos)) != std::string::npos) {
         utf8String.replace(pos, 1, "&lt;");