diff --git a/src/util-host-os-info.c b/src/util-host-os-info.c
index 93e73a82d0..d72bffb416 100644
--- a/src/util-host-os-info.c
+++ b/src/util-host-os-info.c
@@ -130,7 +130,8 @@ int SCHInfoAddHostOSInfo(const char *host_os, const char *host_os_ip_range, int
     int *user_data = NULL;
     char recursive = FALSE;
 
-    if (host_os == NULL || host_os_ip_range == NULL) {
+    if (host_os == NULL || host_os_ip_range == NULL ||
+            strlen(host_os_ip_range) == 0) {
         SCLogError(SC_ERR_INVALID_ARGUMENT, "Invalid arguments");
         return -1;
     }