diff --git a/ci/lint.py b/ci/lint.py
index b2fb8e647..f2c01cd9c 100755
--- a/ci/lint.py
+++ b/ci/lint.py
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ class TrailingWhitespaceLinter(Linter):
     msg = 'Contains trailing whitespace'
     def check_line(self, line):
         line = line.replace('\r', '').replace('\n', '')
-        return not line.strip() or line == line.rstrip('\t ')
+        return line == line.rstrip('\t ')
     def fix_line(self, line):
         return line.rstrip('\t ')