diff --git a/spot/parsetl/parsetl.yy b/spot/parsetl/parsetl.yy
index e6defffb3..117695404 100644
--- a/spot/parsetl/parsetl.yy
+++ b/spot/parsetl/parsetl.yy
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ using namespace spot;
       if (str.empty())
 	{
 	  error_list.emplace_back(location, "unexpected empty block");
-	  return nullptr;
+	  return fnode::ff();
 	}
 
       spot::parsed_formula pf;
diff --git a/tests/core/neverclaimread.test b/tests/core/neverclaimread.test
index bf736f55d..09af8af58 100755
--- a/tests/core/neverclaimread.test
+++ b/tests/core/neverclaimread.test
@@ -350,10 +350,8 @@ digraph "-" {
 }
 EOF
 diff stdout expected
-# FIXME: the "ignoring trailing garbage" is unwanted
 cat >expected.err <<EOF
 5.6-8: unexpected empty block
-5.6-8: ignoring trailing garbage
 14.6-19.1: missing closing parenthese
 19.1: syntax error, unexpected end of file, expecting fi or ':'
 autfilt: failed to read automaton from -