diff --git a/libs/sofia-sip/libsofia-sip-ua/msg/msg_parser.c b/libs/sofia-sip/libsofia-sip-ua/msg/msg_parser.c
index c3124456b5..2ca0a35845 100644
--- a/libs/sofia-sip/libsofia-sip-ua/msg/msg_parser.c
+++ b/libs/sofia-sip/libsofia-sip-ua/msg/msg_parser.c
@@ -1680,7 +1680,7 @@ size_t msg_header_prepare(msg_mclass_t const *mc, int flags,
     n += m;
 
     if (hc->hc_name) {
-      if (!comma_list || !next || next == *return_next)
+      if (!hc->hc_name[0] || !comma_list || !next || next == *return_next)
 	s = CRLF, m = 2;
       /* Else encode continuation */
       else if (compact)