diff --git a/bin/changelog b/bin/changelog
index fb08708..2be39d6 100755
--- a/bin/changelog
+++ b/bin/changelog
@@ -427,6 +427,8 @@ get_commit_closes = function(commit) {
   closes = commit.closes.map(link_to_issue).join(', ');
   if (closes.length > 0) {
     return ", " + closes;
+  } else {
+    return '';
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/src/markdown_utils.coffee b/src/markdown_utils.coffee
index 07de91a..578bd23 100644
--- a/src/markdown_utils.coffee
+++ b/src/markdown_utils.coffee
@@ -91,7 +91,10 @@ get_commit_body = (commit, section_config) ->
 
 get_commit_closes = (commit) ->
   closes = commit.closes.map(link_to_issue).join(', ')
-  ", #{closes}" if closes.length > 0
+  if closes.length > 0
+    ", #{closes}"
+  else
+    ''
 
 get_commit_output = (commit, section_config) ->
   closes = get_commit_closes(commit)