diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index 75a55e590..9f7fe983a 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -978,10 +978,9 @@ static int get_remote_group(const char *key, const char *value, void *priv)
 		/* split list by white space */
 		int space = strcspn(value, " \t\n");
 		while (*value) {
-			if (space > 1) {
+			if (space >= 1)
 				string_list_append(g->list,
 						   xstrndup(value, space));
-			}
 			value += space + (value[space] != '\0');
 			space = strcspn(value, " \t\n");
 		}