diff --git a/strbuf.c b/strbuf.c
index f3bd5719c6..b839be491b 100644
--- a/strbuf.c
+++ b/strbuf.c
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ void strbuf_insert(struct strbuf *sb, size_t pos, const void *data, size_t len)
 
 void strbuf_remove(struct strbuf *sb, size_t pos, size_t len)
 {
-	strbuf_splice(sb, pos, len, NULL, 0);
+	strbuf_splice(sb, pos, len, "", 0);
 }
 
 void strbuf_add(struct strbuf *sb, const void *data, size_t len)