diff --git a/notes.c b/notes.c
index 5fe691dbcd..62bc6e1818 100644
--- a/notes.c
+++ b/notes.c
@@ -1218,8 +1218,7 @@ static void format_note(struct notes_tree *t, const unsigned char *object_sha1,
 	if (!sha1)
 		return;
 
-	if (!(msg = read_sha1_file(sha1, &type, &msglen)) || !msglen ||
-			type != OBJ_BLOB) {
+	if (!(msg = read_sha1_file(sha1, &type, &msglen)) || type != OBJ_BLOB) {
 		free(msg);
 		return;
 	}
diff --git a/t/t3301-notes.sh b/t/t3301-notes.sh
index 70ec5c395f..416ed9e9dc 100755
--- a/t/t3301-notes.sh
+++ b/t/t3301-notes.sh
@@ -1274,4 +1274,16 @@ append -C "$empty_blob"
 edit
 EOF
 
+test_expect_success 'empty notes are displayed by git log' '
+	test_commit 17th &&
+	git log -1 >expect &&
+	cat >>expect <<\EOF &&
+
+Notes:
+EOF
+	git notes add -C "$empty_blob" --allow-empty &&
+	git log -1 >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_done