diff --git a/src/sbbs3/main.cpp b/src/sbbs3/main.cpp
index f93f65c9d01d54dbfc6846a88bbdf3e16e6990e5..acc5198ba1f8817705ecb1c95d6c89379bb955d2 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/main.cpp
+++ b/src/sbbs3/main.cpp
@@ -2138,6 +2138,8 @@ void output_thread(void* arg)
 				avail=mss;
            	buftop=RingBufRead(&sbbs->outbuf, buf, avail);
            	bufbot=0;
+			if (buftop == 0)
+				continue;
 		}
 
 		/* Check socket for writability (using select) */