diff --git a/src/sbbs3/getmsg.cpp b/src/sbbs3/getmsg.cpp
index 40f8089e6f04b449ed26e5ba97e4bf8fdb3b07ec..a632519f6d6ef6b4856b8ecabe01bc2ea936e95e 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/getmsg.cpp
+++ b/src/sbbs3/getmsg.cpp
@@ -161,7 +161,9 @@ void sbbs_t::show_msghdr(smbmsg_t* msg)
 			,timestr(msg->hdr.when_written.time)
 			,smb_zonestr(msg->hdr.when_written.zone,NULL)
 			,age_of_posted_item(age, sizeof(age), msg->hdr.when_written.time - (smb_tzutc(msg->hdr.when_written.zone) * 60)));
-		CRLF;
+		if(column)
+			CRLF;
+		CRLF;	 // use a custom header file if you don't want a blank line separating the header and body
 	}
 	for(i=0;i<msg->total_hfields;i++) {
 		if(msg->hfield[i].type==SENDER)
@@ -170,7 +172,6 @@ void sbbs_t::show_msghdr(smbmsg_t* msg)
 			bprintf(text[ForwardedFrom],sender
 				,timestr(*(time32_t *)msg->hfield_dat[i])); 
 	}
-	CRLF;
 }
 
 /****************************************************************************/