diff --git a/spl/std.spl b/spl/std.spl
index e418249..442ca2f 100644
--- a/spl/std.spl
+++ b/spl/std.spl
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ construct _str_ext {
         !!- pat this str-readf
     }
     readf1 { str | with pat this ;
-        !!- pat this:readf 0:get
+        !!- pat this:readf dup null eq not if { :0 }
     }
     uppercase { str | with this ;
         this _array :cmap<{ | with chr ;