diff --git a/src/mistune/renderers/_list.py b/src/mistune/renderers/_list.py
index 0a18639..90b3ef5 100644
--- a/src/mistune/renderers/_list.py
+++ b/src/mistune/renderers/_list.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def _render_list_item(renderer, parent, item, state):
         text += renderer.render_token(tok, state)
 
     lines = text.splitlines()
-    text = lines[0] + '\n'
+    text = (lines[0] if lines else '') + '\n'
     prefix = ' ' * len(leading)
     for line in lines[1:]:
         if line:
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/renderer_markdown.txt b/tests/fixtures/renderer_markdown.txt
index 184350c..1440875 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/renderer_markdown.txt
+++ b/tests/fixtures/renderer_markdown.txt
@@ -277,3 +277,11 @@ hello
 
   2. item 2
 ````````````````````````````````
+
+```````````````````````````````` example
+- list
+- 
+.
+- list
+- 
+````````````````````````````````