diff --git a/spacy/syntax/_state.pxd b/spacy/syntax/_state.pxd
index 5f6e1f303..5242452b6 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/_state.pxd
+++ b/spacy/syntax/_state.pxd
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ cdef inline bint at_eol(const State *s) nogil:
 
 
 cdef inline bint is_final(const State *s) nogil:
-    return at_eol(s) # The stack will be attached to root anyway
+    return at_eol(s) and s.stack_len < 2
 
 
 cdef int children_in_buffer(const State *s, const int head, const int* gold) except -1
diff --git a/spacy/syntax/_state.pyx b/spacy/syntax/_state.pyx
index b2dbe3772..12295905b 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/_state.pyx
+++ b/spacy/syntax/_state.pyx
@@ -35,11 +35,6 @@ cdef int push_stack(State *s) except -1:
     s.stack[0] = s.i
     s.stack_len += 1
     s.i += 1
-    if at_eol(s):
-        while s.stack_len != 0:
-            if not has_head(get_s0(s)):
-                get_s0(s).dep = 0
-            pop_stack(s)
 
 
 cdef int children_in_buffer(const State *s, int head, const int* gold) except -1:
diff --git a/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx b/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
index 78aaec60f..fb544aa3e 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
+++ b/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ cdef class ArcEager(TransitionSystem):
     @classmethod
     def get_labels(cls, gold_parses):
         move_labels = {SHIFT: {'': True}, REDUCE: {'': True}, RIGHT: {},
-                       LEFT: {}, BREAK: {'ROOT': True}}
+                LEFT: {'ROOT': True}, BREAK: {'ROOT': True}}
         for raw_text, segmented, (ids, words, tags, heads, labels, iob) in gold_parses:
             for child, head, label in zip(ids, heads, labels):
                 if label != 'ROOT':
@@ -126,7 +126,11 @@ cdef int _do_shift(const Transition* self, State* state) except -1:
 
 
 cdef int _do_left(const Transition* self, State* state) except -1:
-    add_dep(state, state.i, state.stack[0], self.label)
+    # Interpret left-arcs from EOL as attachment to root
+    if at_eol(state):
+        add_dep(state, state.stack[0], state.stack[0], self.label)
+    else:
+        add_dep(state, state.i, state.stack[0], self.label)
     pop_stack(state)
 
 
@@ -195,6 +199,13 @@ cdef int _left_cost(const Transition* self, const State* s, GoldParse gold) exce
     if gold.c_heads[s.stack[0]] == s.i:
         cost += self.label != gold.c_labels[s.stack[0]]
         return cost
+    # If we're at EOL, then the left arc will add an arc to ROOT.
+    elif at_eol(s):
+        # Are we root?
+        cost += gold.c_heads[s.stack[0]] != s.stack[0]
+        # Are we labelling correctly?
+        cost += self.label != gold.c_labels[s.stack[0]]
+        return cost
 
     cost += head_in_buffer(s, s.stack[0], gold.c_heads)
     cost += children_in_buffer(s, s.stack[0], gold.c_heads)