diff --git a/lisp/emacs-lisp/autoload.el b/lisp/emacs-lisp/autoload.el
index b7f5dad4d3e..2b0b777adba 100644
--- a/lisp/emacs-lisp/autoload.el
+++ b/lisp/emacs-lisp/autoload.el
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@ autoloads go somewhere else.")
 	  (widen)
 	  (goto-char (point-min))
 	  (while (search-forward generate-autoload-section-header nil t)
+	    (or done (setq done 'seen))
 	    (let ((form (condition-case ()
 			    (read (current-buffer))
 			  (end-of-file nil))))