diff --git a/java/google/registry/tools/RegistryCli.java b/java/google/registry/tools/RegistryCli.java
index 60c9a53d2..0b0caf157 100644
--- a/java/google/registry/tools/RegistryCli.java
+++ b/java/google/registry/tools/RegistryCli.java
@@ -89,16 +89,6 @@ final class RegistryCli implements AutoCloseable, CommandRunner {
     jcommander.addConverterFactory(new ParameterFactory());
     jcommander.setProgramName(programName);
 
-    // Create the "help" and "shell" commands (these are special in that they don't have a default
-    // constructor).
-    jcommander.addCommand("help", new HelpCommand(jcommander));
-    ShellCommand shellCommand = null;
-    if (isFirstUse) {
-      shellCommand = new ShellCommand(this);
-      jcommander.addCommand("shell", shellCommand);
-      isFirstUse = false;
-    }
-
     // Create all command instances. It would be preferrable to do this in the constructor, but
     // JCommander mutates the command instances and doesn't reset them so we have to do it for every
     // run.
@@ -111,8 +101,17 @@ final class RegistryCli implements AutoCloseable, CommandRunner {
       throw new RuntimeException(e);
     }
 
-    if (shellCommand != null) {
+    // Create the "help" and "shell" commands (these are special in that they don't have a default
+    // constructor).
+    jcommander.addCommand("help", new HelpCommand(jcommander));
+    ShellCommand shellCommand = null;
+    if (isFirstUse) {
+      isFirstUse = false;
+      shellCommand = new ShellCommand(this);
+      // We have to build the completions based on the jcommander *before* we add the "shell"
+      // command - to avoid completion for the "shell" command itself.
       shellCommand.buildCompletions(jcommander);
+      jcommander.addCommand("shell", shellCommand);
     }
 
     try {
diff --git a/java/google/registry/tools/ShellCommand.java b/java/google/registry/tools/ShellCommand.java
index c7d078a24..4fd507713 100644
--- a/java/google/registry/tools/ShellCommand.java
+++ b/java/google/registry/tools/ShellCommand.java
@@ -102,6 +102,9 @@ public class ShellCommand implements Command {
     String line;
     while ((line = getLine()) != null) {
       String[] lineArgs = parseCommand(line);
+      if (lineArgs.length == 0) {
+        continue;
+      }
       try {
         runner.run(lineArgs);
       } catch (Exception e) {
@@ -242,5 +245,4 @@ public class ShellCommand implements Command {
           .collect(toImmutableList());
     }
   }
-
 }