diff --git a/attr.c b/attr.c
index 4a1244f9a9b7ec..b1d1d6d791687a 100644
--- a/attr.c
+++ b/attr.c
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ static int invalid_attr_name(const char *name, int namelen)
 	 * Attribute name cannot begin with '-' and must consist of
 	 * characters from [-A-Za-z0-9_.].
 	 */
-	if (*name == '-')
+	if (namelen <= 0 || *name == '-')
 		return -1;
 	while (namelen--) {
 		char ch = *name++;
diff --git a/t/t0003-attributes.sh b/t/t0003-attributes.sh
index ebbc7554a7d4dc..8c76b79bb0b9c1 100755
--- a/t/t0003-attributes.sh
+++ b/t/t0003-attributes.sh
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' '
 
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'command line checks' '
+
+	test_must_fail git check-attr "" -- f
+
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'attribute test' '
 
 	attr_check f f &&