diff --git a/src/server/worker_task.rs b/src/server/worker_task.rs
index 0f7e291a..771e8447 100644
--- a/src/server/worker_task.rs
+++ b/src/server/worker_task.rs
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ pub fn upid_read_status(upid: &UPID) -> Result<TaskState, Error> {
     file.read_to_end(&mut data)?;
 
     // task logs should end with newline, we do not want it here
-    if data[data.len()-1] == b'\n' {
+    if data.len() > 0 && data[data.len()-1] == b'\n' {
         data.pop();
     }
 
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ pub fn upid_read_status(upid: &UPID) -> Result<TaskState, Error> {
         let mut start = 0;
         for pos in (0..data.len()).rev() {
             if data[pos] == b'\n' {
-                start = pos + 1;
+                start = data.len().min(pos + 1);
                 break;
             }
         }