diff --git a/servers/slapd/back-bdb/config.c b/servers/slapd/back-bdb/config.c
index 232e996d49..82169471e9 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/back-bdb/config.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/back-bdb/config.c
@@ -356,12 +356,12 @@ bdb_cf_gen(ConfigArgs *c)
 					bdb->bi_flags |= BDB_HAS_CONFIG;
 					while ( fgets( buf, sizeof(buf), f )) {
 						ber_str2bv( buf, 0, 1, &bv );
-						if ( bv.bv_val > 0 && bv.bv_val[bv.bv_len-1] == '\n' ) {
+						if ( bv.bv_len > 0 && bv.bv_val[bv.bv_len-1] == '\n' ) {
 							bv.bv_len--;
 							bv.bv_val[bv.bv_len] = '\0';
 						}
 						/* shouldn't need this, but ... */
-						if ( bv.bv_val > 0 && bv.bv_val[bv.bv_len-1] == '\r' ) {
+						if ( bv.bv_len > 0 && bv.bv_val[bv.bv_len-1] == '\r' ) {
 							bv.bv_len--;
 							bv.bv_val[bv.bv_len] = '\0';
 						}