diff --git a/src/nwdbm.c b/src/nwdbm.c
index e709033..e36db71 100644
--- a/src/nwdbm.c
+++ b/src/nwdbm.c
@@ -375,7 +375,9 @@ static int loc_delete_property(uint32 obj_id,
         if (p->obj_id == obj_id) {
           data = fetch(key);
           p = (NETPROP*)data.dptr;
-          if (p != NULL && (!prop_name || !*prop_name || name_match(p->name, prop_name))){
+          if (p != NULL && p->name[0] == '\0') {
+            XDPRINTF((1,0, "ignoring empty property name for obj_id=0x%x, id=%d", obj_id, (int)p->id));
+          } else if (p != NULL && (!prop_name || !*prop_name || name_match(p->name, prop_name))){
             XDPRINTF((2,0, "found prop: %s, id=%d for deleting", p->name, (int)p->id));
             if (ever || !b_acc(obj_id, p->security, 0x13)) {
               if ((int)(p->id) > result) result = (int)(p->id);