diff --git a/Koha/Patron.pm b/Koha/Patron.pm
index 2a8eecf9f6..4a29c76f80 100644
--- a/Koha/Patron.pm
+++ b/Koha/Patron.pm
@@ -1442,7 +1442,7 @@ sub first_valid_email_address {
       C4::Context->preference('EmailFieldPrecedence');
     for my $field (@fields) {
         $email = $self->$field;
-        last if ( $email ne q{} );
+        last if ( $email );
     }
 
     return $email;