diff --git a/servers/slapd/at.c b/servers/slapd/at.c
index fd62fe0770..4859040aea 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/at.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/at.c
@@ -239,11 +239,19 @@ at_add(
 	char			*cname;
 
 	if ( at->at_names && at->at_names[0] ) {
+		int i;
+
+		for( i=0; at->at_names[i]; i++ ) {
+			if( !slap_valid_descr( at->at_names[i] ) ) {
+				return SLAP_SCHERR_BAD_DESCR;
+			}
+		}
+
 		cname = at->at_names[0];
+
 	} else if ( at->at_oid ) {
 		cname = at->at_oid;
 	} else {
-		cname = "";
 		return SLAP_SCHERR_ATTR_INCOMPLETE;
 	}
 
diff --git a/servers/slapd/oc.c b/servers/slapd/oc.c
index c27f518029..6433916327 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/oc.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/oc.c
@@ -350,6 +350,16 @@ oc_add(
 	ObjectClass	*soc;
 	int		code;
 
+	if ( oc->oc_names != NULL ) {
+		int i;
+
+		for( i=0; oc->oc_names[i]; i++ ) {
+			if( !slap_valid_descr( oc->oc_names[i] ) ) {
+				return SLAP_SCHERR_BAD_DESCR;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	soc = (ObjectClass *) ch_calloc( 1, sizeof(ObjectClass) );
 	AC_MEMCPY( &soc->soc_oclass, oc, sizeof(LDAPObjectClass) );
 
diff --git a/servers/slapd/proto-slap.h b/servers/slapd/proto-slap.h
index 3688cab747..ba4ebec32a 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/proto-slap.h
+++ b/servers/slapd/proto-slap.h
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ LDAP_BEGIN_DECL
 LDAP_SLAPD_F( int ) schema_init_done;
 LDAP_SLAPD_F( struct slap_internal_schema ) slap_schema;
 
+LDAP_SLAPD_F( int ) slap_valid_descr( const char * );
+
 LDAP_SLAPD_F (int) slap_str2ad LDAP_P((
 	const char *,
 	AttributeDescription **ad,
diff --git a/servers/slapd/schemaparse.c b/servers/slapd/schemaparse.c
index 5370bf644b..cd73b41b0a 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/schemaparse.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/schemaparse.c
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ static char *const err2text[] = {
 	"MatchingRule not found",
 	"Syntax not found",
 	"Syntax required",
-	"Qualifier not supported"
+	"Qualifier not supported",
+	"Invalid NAME"
 };
 
 char *
@@ -50,6 +51,24 @@ scherr2str(int code)
 	}
 }
 
+/* check schema descr validity */
+int slap_valid_descr( const char *descr )
+{
+	int i=0;
+
+	if( !DESC_LEADCHAR( descr[i] ) ) {
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	while( descr[++i] ) {
+		if( !DESC_CHAR( descr[i] ) ) {
+			return 0;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return 1;
+}
+
 
 /* OID Macros */
 
diff --git a/servers/slapd/slap.h b/servers/slapd/slap.h
index bae2b95a3c..b5d26bb1ad 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/slap.h
+++ b/servers/slapd/slap.h
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ typedef struct slap_ssf_set {
 #define SLAP_SCHERR_SYN_NOT_FOUND	13
 #define SLAP_SCHERR_MR_INCOMPLETE	14
 #define SLAP_SCHERR_NOT_SUPPORTED	15
+#define SLAP_SCHERR_BAD_DESCR	16
 
 typedef struct slap_oid_macro {
 	struct berval som_oid;