diff --git a/tmux.c b/tmux.c
index c2557226d..912cd0d1c 100644
--- a/tmux.c
+++ b/tmux.c
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ clean_name(const char *name, const char* forbid)
 {
 	char	*copy, *cp, *new_name;
 
-	if (*name == '\0' || !utf8_isvalid(name))
+	if (!utf8_isvalid(name))
 		return (NULL);
 	copy = xstrdup(name);
 	for (cp = copy; *cp != '\0'; cp++) {
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ check_name(const char *name, const char *forbid)
 {
 	const char	*cp;
 
-	if (*name == '\0' || !utf8_isvalid(name))
+	if (!utf8_isvalid(name))
 		return (0);
 	for (cp = name; *cp != '\0'; cp++) {
 		if (strchr(forbid, *cp) != NULL)