diff --git a/pkg/textparse/lex.l b/pkg/textparse/lex.l
index a6b728c71a..590c7774d4 100644
--- a/pkg/textparse/lex.l
+++ b/pkg/textparse/lex.l
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ C     [^\n]
 <sComment>HELP[\t ]+                  l.state = sMeta1; return tHelp
 <sComment>TYPE[\t ]+                  l.state = sMeta1; return tType
 <sMeta1>{M}({M}|{D})*                 l.state = sMeta2; return tMName
-<sMeta2>{C}+                          l.state = sInit; return tText
+<sMeta2>{C}*                          l.state = sInit; return tText
 
 {M}({M}|{D})*                         l.state = sValue; return tMName
 <sValue>\{                            l.state = sLabels; return tBraceOpen
diff --git a/pkg/textparse/lex.l.go b/pkg/textparse/lex.l.go
index 33a6a9fce1..5ddfb562ef 100644
--- a/pkg/textparse/lex.l.go
+++ b/pkg/textparse/lex.l.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Code generated by golex. DO NOT EDIT.
+// CAUTION: Generated file - DO NOT EDIT.
 
 // Copyright 2017 The Prometheus Authors
 // Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ yystate21:
 yystart21:
 	switch {
 	default:
-		goto yyabort
+		goto yyrule9
 	case c == '\t' || c == ' ':
 		goto yystate23
 	case c >= '\x01' && c <= '\b' || c >= '\v' && c <= '\x1f' || c >= '!' && c <= 'ÿ':
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ yyrule8: // {M}({M}|{D})*
 		return tMName
 		goto yystate0
 	}
-yyrule9: // {C}+
+yyrule9: // {C}*
 	{
 		l.state = sInit
 		return tText
diff --git a/pkg/textparse/parse.go b/pkg/textparse/parse.go
index 9bd515ab73..f7db282fc3 100644
--- a/pkg/textparse/parse.go
+++ b/pkg/textparse/parse.go
@@ -281,7 +281,11 @@ func (p *Parser) Next() (Entry, error) {
 		}
 		switch t := p.nextToken(); t {
 		case tText:
-			p.text = p.l.buf()[1:]
+			if len(p.l.buf()) > 1 {
+				p.text = p.l.buf()[1:]
+			} else {
+				p.text = []byte{}
+			}
 		default:
 			return EntryInvalid, parseError("expected text in HELP", t)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/textparse/parse_test.go b/pkg/textparse/parse_test.go
index 3852bfdf14..07d4b0c891 100644
--- a/pkg/textparse/parse_test.go
+++ b/pkg/textparse/parse_test.go
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ go_gc_duration_seconds{ quantile="0.9", a="b"} 8.3835e-05
 #
 # comment with escaped \n newline
 # comment with escaped \ escape character
+# HELP nohelp1
+# HELP nohelp2 
 go_gc_duration_seconds{ quantile="1.0", a="b" } 8.3835e-05
 go_gc_duration_seconds { quantile="1.0", a="b" } 8.3835e-05
 go_gc_duration_seconds { quantile= "1.0", a= "b", } 8.3835e-05
@@ -99,6 +101,12 @@ testmetric{label="\"bar\""} 1`
 			comment: "# comment with escaped \\n newline",
 		}, {
 			comment: "# comment with escaped \\ escape character",
+		}, {
+			m:    "nohelp1",
+			help: "",
+		}, {
+			m:    "nohelp2",
+			help: "",
 		}, {
 			m:    `go_gc_duration_seconds{ quantile="1.0", a="b" }`,
 			v:    8.3835e-05,