diff --git a/convert.c b/convert.c
index 814e814438..02d5f1e23c 100644
--- a/convert.c
+++ b/convert.c
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ static int apply_filter(const char *path, const char *src, size_t len, int fd,
 	struct async async;
 	struct filter_params params;
 
-	if (!cmd)
+	if (!cmd || !*cmd)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (!dst)
diff --git a/t/t0021-conversion.sh b/t/t0021-conversion.sh
index 718efa04d3..7bac2bcf26 100755
--- a/t/t0021-conversion.sh
+++ b/t/t0021-conversion.sh
@@ -252,4 +252,20 @@ test_expect_success "filter: smudge empty file" '
 	test_cmp expected filtered-empty-in-repo
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'disable filter with empty override' '
+	test_config_global filter.disable.smudge false &&
+	test_config_global filter.disable.clean false &&
+	test_config filter.disable.smudge false &&
+	test_config filter.disable.clean false &&
+
+	echo "*.disable filter=disable" >.gitattributes &&
+
+	echo test >test.disable &&
+	git -c filter.disable.clean= add test.disable 2>err &&
+	test_must_be_empty err &&
+	rm -f test.disable &&
+	git -c filter.disable.smudge= checkout -- test.disable 2>err &&
+	test_must_be_empty err
+'
+
 test_done