diff --git a/retribute_api/providers.py b/retribute_api/providers.py
index 7c123966922f93250ad015aef3c61c728520ac20..bd95c7a8669405c9835078a4843136dcc783da18 100644
--- a/retribute_api/providers.py
+++ b/retribute_api/providers.py
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ class Provider(object):
     username_regex = None
 
     def match_by_name(self, value):
+        if not value:
+            return False
         v = value.lower().strip()
         return self.id == v or v in self.additional_ids