diff --git a/ChangeLog.txt b/ChangeLog.txt
index 4734e6f6c0..20f79dd6f0 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.txt
+++ b/ChangeLog.txt
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ Clients:
 - Fix MQTT v5 clients not being able to specify a password without a username.
   Closes #1274.
 - Fix `mosquitto_pub -l` not handling network failures. Closes #1152.
+- Fix `mosquitto_pub -l` not handling zero length input. Closes #1302.
 - Fix double free on exit in mosquitto_pub. Closes #1280.
 
 Documentation:
diff --git a/client/pub_shared.c b/client/pub_shared.c
index e1de3f0a6c..008bef4e5f 100644
--- a/client/pub_shared.c
+++ b/client/pub_shared.c
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ and the Eclipse Distribution License is available at
 
 /* Global variables for use in callbacks. See sub_client.c for an example of
  * using a struct to hold variables for use in callbacks. */
-int mid_sent = 0;
+int mid_sent = -1;
 int status = STATUS_CONNECTING;
 struct mosq_config cfg;