diff --git a/arcup/arcup b/arcup/arcup
index 3590cd36..999bc2b2 100755
--- a/arcup/arcup
+++ b/arcup/arcup
@@ -656,7 +656,12 @@ verify_checksum_file() {
     local archive_name="$3"
     local expected_checksum expected_name actual_checksum
 
-    if ! read -r expected_checksum expected_name < "$checksum_path"; then
+    # `read` returns non-zero when it hits EOF before a newline, even though it
+    # still populates the variables. A checksum file whose single line has no
+    # trailing newline is valid, so decide emptiness from the parsed hash rather
+    # than from read's exit status.
+    read -r expected_checksum expected_name < "$checksum_path" || true
+    if [[ -z "$expected_checksum" ]]; then
         error "Checksum file is empty: $checksum_path"
     fi
 
diff --git a/arcup/test_arcup.sh b/arcup/test_arcup.sh
index 49021191..cb56b648 100755
--- a/arcup/test_arcup.sh
+++ b/arcup/test_arcup.sh
@@ -119,6 +119,20 @@ test_checksum_validation() {
 
     printf '%s  other-asset.tar.gz\n' "$checksum" > "$checksum_file"
     expect_fail "checksum filename mismatch fails" verify_checksum_file "$archive" "$checksum_file" "$archive_name"
+
+    # A checksum file whose only line has no trailing newline is still valid.
+    printf '%s  %s' "$checksum" "$archive_name" > "$checksum_file"
+    verify_checksum_file "$archive" "$checksum_file" "$archive_name"
+    pass "checksum file without trailing newline passes"
+
+    # A genuinely empty checksum file must still be rejected.
+    : > "$checksum_file"
+    expect_fail "empty checksum file fails" verify_checksum_file "$archive" "$checksum_file" "$archive_name"
+
+    # A wrong hash without a trailing newline must still fail the comparison,
+    # not slip through the emptiness check.
+    printf '%s  %s' "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000" "$archive_name" > "$checksum_file"
+    expect_fail "mismatched checksum without trailing newline fails" verify_checksum_file "$archive" "$checksum_file" "$archive_name"
 }
 
 test_download_error_lists_assets() {