diff --git a/gdb/testsuite/ChangeLog b/gdb/testsuite/ChangeLog
index bb8dd7923d..547a3be897 100644
--- a/gdb/testsuite/ChangeLog
+++ b/gdb/testsuite/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2017-11-16  Pedro Alves  <palves@redhat.com>
+
+	* gdb.base/starti.exp ("continue" test): Remove ".*"s from
+	pattern.
+	* lib/gdb.exp (gdb_test_sequence): Don't send empty command to
+	GDB.
+
 2017-11-15  Simon Marchi  <simon.marchi@ericsson.com>
 
 	* gdb.tui/completionn.exp (test_tab_completion): Add space in
diff --git a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/starti.exp b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/starti.exp
index 98167ce5c7..76e68d5457 100644
--- a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/starti.exp
+++ b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/starti.exp
@@ -47,5 +47,5 @@ gdb_test_sequence "" "starti" {
 gdb_breakpoint main
 gdb_test_sequence "continue" "" {
     "\\$2 = 1"
-    ".*Breakpoint .*main \\(\\) at .*starti.c.*"
+    "Breakpoint \[^\r\n\]*main \\(\\) at \[^\r\n\]*starti.c"
 }
diff --git a/gdb/testsuite/lib/gdb.exp b/gdb/testsuite/lib/gdb.exp
index 548cb068d4..8d6972ab1f 100644
--- a/gdb/testsuite/lib/gdb.exp
+++ b/gdb/testsuite/lib/gdb.exp
@@ -1093,7 +1093,8 @@ proc gdb_test_no_output { args } {
 # This is useful when the sequence is long and contains ".*", a single
 # regexp to match the entire output can get a timeout much easier.
 #
-# COMMAND is the command to send.
+# COMMAND is the command to execute, send to GDB with send_gdb.  If
+#   this is the null string no command is sent.
 # TEST_NAME is passed to pass/fail.  COMMAND is used if TEST_NAME is "".
 # EXPECTED_OUTPUT_LIST is a list of regexps of expected output, which are
 # processed in order, and all must be present in the output.
@@ -1116,7 +1117,9 @@ proc gdb_test_sequence { command test_name expected_output_list } {
 	set test_name $command
     }
     lappend expected_output_list ""; # implicit ".*" before gdb prompt
-    send_gdb "$command\n"
+    if { $command != "" } {
+	send_gdb "$command\n"
+    }
     return [gdb_expect_list $test_name "$gdb_prompt $" $expected_output_list]
 }