diff --git a/ggml/src/gguf.cpp b/ggml/src/gguf.cpp
index 5e1986182..c3ffa1a13 100644
--- a/ggml/src/gguf.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/gguf.cpp
@@ -557,6 +557,10 @@ static struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_reader(const struct gguf_reader & gr
                 GGML_LOG_ERROR("%s: encountered bad_alloc error while reading key %" PRIi64 "\n", __func__, i);
                 ok = false;
             }
+            if (ok && key.empty()) {
+                GGML_LOG_ERROR("%s: key %" PRIi64 " is empty\n", __func__, i);
+                ok = false;
+            }
             for (size_t j = 0; ok && j < ctx->kv.size(); ++j) {
                 if (key == ctx->kv[j].key) {
                     GGML_LOG_ERROR("%s: duplicate key '%s' for tensors %zu and %" PRIi64 " \n", __func__, key.c_str(), j, i);