diff --git a/servers/slapd/backend.c b/servers/slapd/backend.c
index 1b26ee117f..c2edb36275 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/backend.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/backend.c
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ select_backend(
 			}
 
 			
-			if ( (len < dnlen) && !(DN_SEPARATOR( dn[(dnlen-len)-1] )) ) {
+			if ( len && len < dnlen && !DN_SEPARATOR( dn[(dnlen-len)-1] ) ) {
 				/* make sure we have a separator */
 				continue;
 			}