diff --git a/src/sbbs3/userdat.c b/src/sbbs3/userdat.c
index f9cc8e0333bfb708c71037f23d896d22112b2352..16d48cb064dfdc364f792a119f84b8bd8c585bc5 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/userdat.c
+++ b/src/sbbs3/userdat.c
@@ -3873,6 +3873,8 @@ bool check_realname(scfg_t* cfg, const char* name)
 {
 	if (name == NULL)
 		return false;
+	if (name[0] == 0)
+		return false;
 
 	return (uchar)name[0] < 0x7f && name[1] && IS_ALPHA(name[0]) && strchr(name, ' ');
 }