diff --git a/bin/lib/get-defaults.js b/bin/lib/get-defaults.js
index 3e91470..de1251a 100644
--- a/bin/lib/get-defaults.js
+++ b/bin/lib/get-defaults.js
@@ -19,10 +19,14 @@ function getDefaults (workPath, callback) {
   changelogParser(logPath, function (err, result) {
     if (err) return callback(err)
 
+    // check for 'unreleased' section in CHANGELOG: allow sections which do not include a body (eg. 'Added', 'Changed', etc.)
+
     var unreleased = result.versions.filter(function (release) {
       return release.title && release.title.toLowerCase
         ? release.title.toLowerCase().indexOf('unreleased') !== -1
         : false
+    }).filter(function (release) {
+      return !!release.body
     })
 
     if (unreleased.length > 0) {
diff --git a/test/fixtures/unreleased/CHANGELOG.md b/test/fixtures/unreleased/CHANGELOG.md
index 61e6ec2..3a0b963 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/unreleased/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/test/fixtures/unreleased/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 ## Unreleased
+- apples
 
 ## 1.0.0
 - bananas
diff --git a/test/index.js b/test/index.js
index 61f90b7..8f3fea7 100644
--- a/test/index.js
+++ b/test/index.js
@@ -21,16 +21,22 @@ test('should return error if changelog version !== package.json version', functi
   })
 })
 
-test('should return error if unreleased section exists', function (t) {
-  t.plan(2)
+test('should return error if a non-empty unreleased section exists', function (t) {
+  var errStr = 'Unreleased changes detected in CHANGELOG.md, aborting'
+  t.plan(1)
   ghRelease({
     workpath: fixture('unreleased')
   }, function (err, result) {
-    t.deepEqual(err.message, 'Unreleased changes detected in CHANGELOG.md, aborting')
+    t.deepEqual(err.message, errStr)
   })
+})
+
+test('should allow empty unreleased sections', function (t) {
+  var errStr = 'Unreleased changes detected in CHANGELOG.md, aborting'
+  t.plan(1)
   ghRelease({
     workpath: fixture('unreleased-alt')
   }, function (err, result) {
-    t.deepEqual(err.message, 'Unreleased changes detected in CHANGELOG.md, aborting')
+    t.notEqual(err.message, errStr)
   })
 })