diff --git a/wiki/user.py b/wiki/user.py
index 0455c2a1..601364cf 100644
--- a/wiki/user.py
+++ b/wiki/user.py
@@ -148,7 +148,12 @@ def isValidName(request, name):
     @param name: user name, unicode
     """
     normalized = normalizeName(name)
-    return (name == normalized) and not wikiutil.isGroupPage(request, name)
+    #### HACK CRANS
+    #return (name == normalized) and not wikiutil.isGroupPage(request, name)
+    return not name or ((name == normalized) \
+                        and not wikiutil.isGroupPage(request, name)
+                        and wikiutil.isStrictWikiname(name))
+    #### HACK CRANS
 
 
 def encodeList(items):