diff --git a/src/gui/gui-bar-item.c b/src/gui/gui-bar-item.c
index 5a6af8448..35d07a073 100644
--- a/src/gui/gui-bar-item.c
+++ b/src/gui/gui-bar-item.c
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ gui_bar_item_get_value (struct t_gui_bar *bar, struct t_gui_window *window,
             item_value = (ptr_item->build_callback) (ptr_item->build_callback_data,
                                                      ptr_item, window);
         }
-        if (!item_value)
+        if (!item_value || !item_value[0])
             return NULL;
     }