diff --git a/lib/bash/cli/lib_cli.sh b/lib/bash/cli/lib_cli.sh
index 2a4ca66..d55a6e1 100644
--- a/lib/bash/cli/lib_cli.sh
+++ b/lib/bash/cli/lib_cli.sh
@@ -1622,10 +1622,9 @@ base_cli_completion_script() {
     printf '%s\n' '    if [[ "$cursor" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then cursor=$((10#$cursor)); else cursor=0; fi'
     printf '%s\n' '    word_count="${#completion_words[@]}"'
     printf '%s\n' '    if ((cursor > 0)); then'
-    printf '%s\n' '        if ((cursor < word_count)); then'
-    printf '%s\n' '            cli_words=( "${completion_words[@]:1:cursor}" )'
-    printf '%s\n' '        else'
-    printf '%s\n' '            cli_words=( "${completion_words[@]:1}" )'
+    printf '%s\n' '        cli_words=( "${completion_words[@]:1:cursor}" )'
+    printf '%s\n' '        if ((cursor >= word_count)); then'
+    printf '%s\n' '            # COMP_CWORD at or beyond the array end means the current word is empty.'
     printf '%s\n' '            cli_words+=("")'
     printf '%s\n' '        fi'
     printf '%s\n' '    fi'
diff --git a/lib/bash/cli/tests/lib_cli.bats b/lib/bash/cli/tests/lib_cli.bats
index 28669e4..d2557ed 100644
--- a/lib/bash/cli/tests/lib_cli.bats
+++ b/lib/bash/cli/tests/lib_cli.bats
@@ -760,10 +760,22 @@ EOF
     _cursor_complete
     [ "${COMPREPLY[*]}" = user ]
 
+    COMP_CWORD=99
+    _cursor_complete
+    [ "${COMPREPLY[*]}" = user ]
+
     COMP_WORDS=(cursor)
     COMP_CWORD=1
     _cursor_complete
     [ "${COMPREPLY[*]}" = admin ]
+
+    unset COMP_WORDS COMP_CWORD
+    set -u
+    _cursor_complete
+    status=$?
+    set +u
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [ "${COMPREPLY[*]}" = admin ]
 }
 
 @test "completion consumes option values and honors the double-dash boundary" {