diff -ru a/src/pch.c b/src/pch.c --- a/src/pch.c 2018-02-03 12:41:49.000000000 +0000 +++ b/src/pch.c 2018-11-19 21:58:54.615048655 +0000 @@ -974,8 +974,9 @@ if ((pch_rename () || pch_copy ()) && ! inname && ! ((i == OLD || i == NEW) && - p_name[! reverse] && - name_is_valid (p_name[! reverse]))) + p_name[reverse] && p_name[! reverse] && + name_is_valid (p_name[reverse]) && + name_is_valid (p_name[! reverse]))) { say ("Cannot %s file without two valid file names\n", pch_rename () ? "rename" : "copy"); skip_rest_of_patch = true;