diff --git a/usr.bin/tail/forward.c b/usr.bin/tail/forward.c
index e57e8b5cac96..506aa7c0d399 100644
--- a/usr.bin/tail/forward.c
+++ b/usr.bin/tail/forward.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/*	$NetBSD: forward.c,v 1.33 2015/10/09 17:51:26 christos Exp $	*/
+/*	$NetBSD: forward.c,v 1.34 2024/01/14 17:37:32 christos Exp $	*/
 
 /*-
  * Copyright (c) 1991, 1993
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 #if 0
 static char sccsid[] = "@(#)forward.c	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93";
 #endif
-__RCSID("$NetBSD: forward.c,v 1.33 2015/10/09 17:51:26 christos Exp $");
+__RCSID("$NetBSD: forward.c,v 1.34 2024/01/14 17:37:32 christos Exp $");
 #endif /* not lint */
 
 #include <sys/types.h>
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ forward(FILE *fp, enum STYLE style, off_t off, struct stat *sbp)
 	case FBYTES:
 		if (off == 0)
 			break;
-		if (S_ISREG(sbp->st_mode)) {
+		if (S_ISREG(sbp->st_mode) && sbp->st_size > 0) {
 			if (sbp->st_size < off)
 				off = sbp->st_size;
 			if (fseeko(fp, off, SEEK_SET) == -1) {
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ forward(FILE *fp, enum STYLE style, off_t off, struct stat *sbp)
 		}
 		break;
 	case RBYTES:
-		if (S_ISREG(sbp->st_mode)) {
+		if (S_ISREG(sbp->st_mode) && sbp->st_size > 0) {
 			if (sbp->st_size >= off &&
 			    fseeko(fp, -off, SEEK_END) == -1) {
 				ierr();
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ forward(FILE *fp, enum STYLE style, off_t off, struct stat *sbp)
 		}
 		break;
 	case RLINES:
-		if (S_ISREG(sbp->st_mode)) {
+		if (S_ISREG(sbp->st_mode) && sbp->st_size > 0) {
 			if (!off) {
 				if (fseek(fp, 0L, SEEK_END) == -1) {
 					ierr();