diff --git a/core/tags/album.c b/core/tags/album.c
index f8bce5d0..8396f52a 100644
--- a/core/tags/album.c
+++ b/core/tags/album.c
@@ -138,7 +138,8 @@ static bool __album_query_artist(struct album *album, struct artist *al_artist,
 	gchar *release, *artist, *year;
 	bool found = false;
 
-	if (!al_artist || strcmp(al_artist->ar_tokens[0], "various") == 0)
+	if (!al_artist || !string_length(al_artist->ar_name) ||
+	     strcmp(al_artist->ar_tokens[0], "various") == 0)
 		return false;
 
 	release = g_strdup_printf("release:\"%s\"~", lower);