diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # Revision history for rpm-nvr
 
+## 0.1.2 (2022-05-10)
+- tighten NVR and NVRA string validation to prevent empty names
+
 ## 0.1.1 (2021-11-02)
 - fix a critical bug in rpmVerCompare numeric comparison
 - reading NVRA now removes any directory prefix
diff --git a/rpm-nvr.cabal b/rpm-nvr.cabal
--- a/rpm-nvr.cabal
+++ b/rpm-nvr.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                rpm-nvr
-version:             0.1.1
+version:             0.1.2
 synopsis:            RPM package name-version-release data types
 description:
             The library provides types related to RPM package
diff --git a/src/Data/RPM/NVR.hs b/src/Data/RPM/NVR.hs
--- a/src/Data/RPM/NVR.hs
+++ b/src/Data/RPM/NVR.hs
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 eitherNVR s =
   case reverse (splitOn "-" s) of
     rel:ver:emaN ->
-      if any null (rel:ver:emaN)
+      if null rel || null ver || null emaN
       then Left $ "NVR cannot start or end with '-'s: " ++ s
       else Right (NVR (intercalate "-" $ reverse emaN) (VerRel ver rel))
     _ ->
diff --git a/src/Data/RPM/NVRA.hs b/src/Data/RPM/NVRA.hs
--- a/src/Data/RPM/NVRA.hs
+++ b/src/Data/RPM/NVRA.hs
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@
   let nvra = dropSuffix ".rpm" $ takeFileName s
   in
     case reverse (splitOn "-" nvra) of
-      ps@(relarch:ver:emaN) ->
-        if any null ps
+      relarch:ver:emaN ->
+        if null relarch || null ver || null emaN
         then Left $ "Bad NVRA string: " ++ s
         else
           case breakOnEnd "." relarch of
diff --git a/test/RPM/PackageSpec.hs b/test/RPM/PackageSpec.hs
--- a/test/RPM/PackageSpec.hs
+++ b/test/RPM/PackageSpec.hs
@@ -1,37 +1,49 @@
 module RPM.PackageSpec (pkgspec) where
 
 import           Test.Hspec
-import           Data.Foldable(forM_)
 import           Data.RPM.NV
 import           Data.RPM.NVR
 import           Data.RPM.NVRA
 
+import Data.Maybe (isNothing)
 import System.FilePath (dropExtension, takeFileName)
 
 -- FIXME add some failures too
 pkgspec :: Spec
 pkgspec = do
   describe "NV" $ do
-    forM_ ["my-pkg-1.0.1"] $ \nv ->
+    let nv = "my-pkg-1.0.1" in
       it nv $
       showNV (readNV nv) `shouldBe` nv
 
+    let v = "1.0.1" in
+      it v $
+      isNothing (maybeNV v) `shouldBe` True
+
   describe "NVR" $ do
-    forM_ ["my-pkg-1.0.1-1.2"] $ \nvr ->
+    let nvr = "my-pkg-1.0.1-1.2" in
       it nvr $
       showNVR (readNVR nvr) `shouldBe` nvr
 
+    let nv = "name-1.0.1" in
+      it nv $
+      isNothing (maybeNVR nv) `shouldBe` True
+
   describe "NVRA" $ do
-    forM_ ["my-pkg-1.0.1-1.2.x86_64"] $ \pkg ->
+    let pkg = "my-pkg-1.0.1-1.2.x86_64" in
       it pkg $
       showNVRA (readNVRA pkg) `shouldBe` pkg
 
+    let nv = "name-1.0.1" in
+      it nv $
+      isNothing (maybeNVRA nv) `shouldBe` True
+
   describe "NVRA.rpm" $ do
-    forM_ ["my-pkg-1.0.1-1.2.x86_64.rpm"] $ \pkg ->
+    let pkg = "my-pkg-1.0.1-1.2.x86_64.rpm" in
       it pkg $
       showNVRA (readNVRA pkg) `shouldBe` dropExtension pkg
 
   describe "dir/NVRA.rpm" $ do
-    forM_ ["dir/my-pkg-1.0.1-1.2.x86_64.rpm"] $ \pkg ->
+    let pkg = "dir/my-pkg-1.0.1-1.2.x86_64.rpm" in
       it pkg $
       showNVRA (readNVRA pkg) `shouldBe` dropExtension (takeFileName pkg)