diff --git a/ident.c b/ident.c
index 0461b8b2f..23b8cfc60 100644
--- a/ident.c
+++ b/ident.c
@@ -167,6 +167,11 @@ static const char *get_ident(const char *name, const char *email,
 		name = git_default_name;
 	if (!email)
 		email = git_default_email;
+
+	if (!*name || !*email)
+		die("empty ident %s <%s> not allowed",
+		    name, email);
+
 	strcpy(date, git_default_date);
 	if (date_str)
 		parse_date(date_str, date, sizeof(date));
diff --git a/t/t6000lib.sh b/t/t6000lib.sh
index 01f796e9c..c6752af48 100755
--- a/t/t6000lib.sh
+++ b/t/t6000lib.sh
@@ -51,7 +51,12 @@ as_author()
 
 	export GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="$_author"
 	"$@"
-        export GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="$_save"
+	if test -z "$_save"
+	then
+		unset GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL
+	else
+		export GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="$_save"
+	fi
 }
 
 commit_date()