diff --git a/formatter/src/main/kotlin/org/kotlin/formatter/scanning/KDocScanner.kt b/formatter/src/main/kotlin/org/kotlin/formatter/scanning/KDocScanner.kt
index b2841ec..2c048e9 100644
--- a/formatter/src/main/kotlin/org/kotlin/formatter/scanning/KDocScanner.kt
+++ b/formatter/src/main/kotlin/org/kotlin/formatter/scanning/KDocScanner.kt
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ internal class KDocScanner(private val kotlinScanner: KotlinScanner) : NodeScann
 
     private fun String.trimOneWhitespace(): String =
         if (startsWith(' ') && endsWith(' ')) {
-            substring(1, length - 1)
+            substring(1, Integer.max(length - 1, 1))
         } else {
             this
         }
diff --git a/formatter/src/test/kotlin/org/kotlin/formatter/KotlinFormatterTest.kt b/formatter/src/test/kotlin/org/kotlin/formatter/KotlinFormatterTest.kt
index df338a3..07a3807 100644
--- a/formatter/src/test/kotlin/org/kotlin/formatter/KotlinFormatterTest.kt
+++ b/formatter/src/test/kotlin/org/kotlin/formatter/KotlinFormatterTest.kt
@@ -3839,6 +3839,25 @@ class KotlinFormatterTest {
         )
     }
 
+    @Test
+    fun `accepts empty KDoc`() {
+        val subject = KotlinFormatter(maxLineLength = 40)
+
+        val result = subject.format(
+            """
+                /** */
+                class MyClass
+            """.trimIndent()
+        )
+
+        assertThat(result).isEqualTo(
+            """
+                /**  */
+                class MyClass
+            """.trimIndent()
+        )
+    }
+
     @Test
     fun `maintains a line break between KDoc and object declaration`() {
         val subject = KotlinFormatter(maxLineLength = 40)