diff --git a/dive.h b/dive.h
index f07c9d9b2..318f822e7 100644
--- a/dive.h
+++ b/dive.h
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ static inline int same_string(const char *a, const char *b)
 
 static inline char *copy_string(const char *s)
 {
-	return s ? strdup(s) : NULL;
+	return (s && *s) ? strdup(s) : NULL;
 }
 
 #include <libxml/tree.h>