diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/transforms/split.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/transforms/split.py
index 4b4fb95fb7..1fba7ffa64 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/transforms/split.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/transforms/split.py
@@ -308,6 +308,7 @@ class FlowSplitter(object):
             if not hit_split_point:
                 x = elem.get('id', None)
                 nix_element(elem, top=False)
+        body2.text = '\n'
 
         return tree, tree2