diff --git a/wiki/user.py b/wiki/user.py
index 8f5c6f5b..22648403 100644
--- a/wiki/user.py
+++ b/wiki/user.py
@@ -149,7 +149,12 @@ def isValidName(request, name):
     """
     normalized = normalizeName(name)
     name = name.replace('_', ' ') # we treat _ as a blank
-    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):