diff --git a/structure.cpp b/structure.cpp
index 257dfe7325dc26c648cd8df3661db1dbc79f2fbe..0f676c573ffeea4e66c65b4f04084f64c0ee6dec 100644
--- a/structure.cpp
+++ b/structure.cpp
@@ -213,9 +213,9 @@ int Structure::next_structure(std::ifstream &ifs) {
 
   int natoms=0;
   while(std::getline(ifs,line)) {
-    natoms++;
     if(line.empty()) break;
     if(line == "\r") break;     // detects windows newline
+    natoms++;
   }
   return natoms;
 }