diff --git a/main/manager.c b/main/manager.c
index 465719ebfa7cbe84bbeb4a6b5cf6de902ba4132b..7bfdb1fa1c66a88ac708dd3084440ceae0e18e71 100644
--- a/main/manager.c
+++ b/main/manager.c
@@ -2337,7 +2337,7 @@ static int action_originate(struct mansession *s, const struct message *m)
 	int format = AST_FORMAT_SLINEAR;
 
 	pthread_t th;
-	if (!name) {
+	if (!ast_strlen_zero(name)) {
 		astman_send_error(s, m, "Channel not specified");
 		return 0;
 	}