diff --git a/src/http/ngx_http_core_module.c b/src/http/ngx_http_core_module.c
index 8abf864d5..74a448a88 100644
--- a/src/http/ngx_http_core_module.c
+++ b/src/http/ngx_http_core_module.c
@@ -2632,6 +2632,14 @@ ngx_http_named_location(ngx_http_request_t *r, ngx_str_t *name)
         return NGX_DONE;
     }
 
+    if (r->uri.len == 0) {
+        ngx_log_error(NGX_LOG_ERR, r->connection->log, 0,
+                      "empty URI in redirect to named location \"%V\"", name);
+
+        ngx_http_finalize_request(r, NGX_HTTP_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR);
+        return NGX_DONE;
+    }
+
     cscf = ngx_http_get_module_srv_conf(r, ngx_http_core_module);
 
     if (cscf->named_locations) {