diff --git a/src/reader.cpp b/src/reader.cpp
index 83d4355e8..a49806faf 100644
--- a/src/reader.cpp
+++ b/src/reader.cpp
@@ -2646,12 +2646,7 @@ static eval_res_t reader_run_command(parser_t &parser, const wcstring &cmd) {
     return eval_res;
 }
 
-static parser_test_error_bits_t reader_shell_test(const parser_t &parser, const wcstring &b) {
-    wcstring bstr = b;
-
-    // Append a newline, to act as a statement terminator.
-    bstr.push_back(L'\n');
-
+static parser_test_error_bits_t reader_shell_test(const parser_t &parser, const wcstring &bstr) {
     parse_error_list_t errors;
     parser_test_error_bits_t res =
         parse_util_detect_errors(bstr, &errors, true /* do accept incomplete */);