diff --git a/bin/rouge_cmd.py b/bin/rouge_cmd.py
index 56593e9..9def2ff 100755
--- a/bin/rouge_cmd.py
+++ b/bin/rouge_cmd.py
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ def main():
     parser.add_argument('-f', '--file', help="File mode", action='store_true')
     parser.add_argument('-a', '--avg', help="Average mode",
                         action='store_true')
+    parser.add_argument('--ignore_empty', action='store_true',
+                        help="Ignore empty hypothesis")
     parser.add_argument('hypothesis', type=str, help='Text of file path')
     parser.add_argument('reference', type=str, help='Text or file path')
 
@@ -20,7 +22,8 @@ def main():
         assert(os.path.isfile(ref))
 
         files_rouge = FilesRouge(hyp, ref)
-        scores = files_rouge.get_scores(avg=args.avg)
+        scores = files_rouge.get_scores(avg=args.avg,
+                                        ignore_empty=args.ignore_empty)
 
         print(json.dumps(scores, indent=2))
     else:
diff --git a/rouge/rouge.py b/rouge/rouge.py
index a6e8fa4..5ecc135 100644
--- a/rouge/rouge.py
+++ b/rouge/rouge.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def line_count(path):
         self.ref_path = ref_path
         self.batch_lines = batch_lines
 
-    def get_scores(self, avg=False):
+    def get_scores(self, avg=False, ignore_empty=False):
         """Calculate ROUGE scores between each pair of
         lines (hyp_file[i], ref_file[i]).
         Args:
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ def get_scores(self, avg=False):
         with io.open(ref_path, encoding="utf-8", mode="r") as ref_file:
             refs = [line[:-1] for line in ref_file]
 
-        return self.rouge.get_scores(hyps, refs, avg=avg)
+        return self.rouge.get_scores(hyps, refs, avg=avg,
+                                     ignore_empty=ignore_empty)
 
 
 class Rouge:
@@ -74,10 +75,16 @@ def __init__(self, metrics=None, stats=None):
             if s not in Rouge.AVAILABLE_STATS:
                 raise ValueError("Unknown stat '%s'" % s)
 
-    def get_scores(self, hyps, refs, avg=False):
+    def get_scores(self, hyps, refs, avg=False, ignore_empty=False):
         if isinstance(hyps, six.string_types):
             hyps, refs = [hyps], [refs]
 
+        if ignore_empty:
+            # Filter out hyps of 0 length
+            hyps_and_refs = zip(hyps, refs)
+            hyps_and_refs = [_ for _ in hyps_and_refs if len(_[0]) > 0]
+            hyps, refs = zip(*hyps_and_refs)
+
         assert(type(hyps) == type(refs))
         assert(len(hyps) == len(refs))