diff --git a/src/scripts/pycompare.py b/src/scripts/pycompare.py
index fe68f7338bd6721829dcbe4a1856b015fbef43f3..d8c7072f233e908517c2222c21a983ee8b460f63 100755
--- a/src/scripts/pycompare.py
+++ b/src/scripts/pycompare.py
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ def compare_files(config):
                 print("ERROR: C++ file is shorter than FORTRAN file.")
                 fortran_file.close()
                 c_file.close()
-                mismatch_count['errors'] = line_count
+                mismatch_count['errors'] = line_count if line_count > 0 else 1
                 return mismatch_count
             f_lines[0] = fortran_file.readline()
             c_lines[0] = c_file.readline()