diff --git a/fsck.c b/fsck.c
index 3696f1b849..98b16a9e58 100644
--- a/fsck.c
+++ b/fsck.c
@@ -919,7 +919,7 @@ static int fsck_ident(const char **ident, const char *ident_end,
 		return report(options, oid, type, FSCK_MSG_ZERO_PADDED_DATE, "invalid author/committer line - zero-padded date");
 	if (date_overflows(parse_timestamp(p, &end, 10)))
 		return report(options, oid, type, FSCK_MSG_BAD_DATE_OVERFLOW, "invalid author/committer line - date causes integer overflow");
-	if ((end == p || *end != ' '))
+	if (*end != ' ')
 		return report(options, oid, type, FSCK_MSG_BAD_DATE, "invalid author/committer line - bad date");
 	p = end + 1;
 	if ((*p != '+' && *p != '-') ||