diff --git a/src/text-backend.c b/src/text-backend.c
index 6879fe0a6c740ac44ea3b3894280f6c7bd5ab36f..06dfbda5f7b0784fc88edb4a5fab2afc86270168 100644
--- a/src/text-backend.c
+++ b/src/text-backend.c
@@ -920,6 +920,9 @@ launch_input_method(struct text_backend *text_backend)
 	if (!text_backend->input_method.path)
 		return;
 
+	if (strcmp(text_backend->input_method.path, "") == 0)
+		return;
+
 	if (text_backend->input_method.process.pid != 0)
 		return;