diff --git a/drivers/firmware/dmi_scan.c b/drivers/firmware/dmi_scan.c
index 8cd5db6691b2..a7072e7880ee 100644
--- a/drivers/firmware/dmi_scan.c
+++ b/drivers/firmware/dmi_scan.c
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dmi_kobj);
  * of and an antecedent to, SMBIOS, which stands for System
  * Management BIOS.  See further: http://www.dmtf.org/standards
  */
-static const char dmi_empty_string[] = "        ";
+static const char dmi_empty_string[] = "";
 
 static u32 dmi_ver __initdata;
 static u32 dmi_len;
@@ -39,25 +39,21 @@ static int dmi_memdev_nr;
 static const char * __init dmi_string_nosave(const struct dmi_header *dm, u8 s)
 {
 	const u8 *bp = ((u8 *) dm) + dm->length;
+	const u8 *nsp;
 
 	if (s) {
-		s--;
-		while (s > 0 && *bp) {
+		while (--s > 0 && *bp)
 			bp += strlen(bp) + 1;
-			s--;
-		}
 
-		if (*bp != 0) {
-			size_t len = strlen(bp)+1;
-			size_t cmp_len = len > 8 ? 8 : len;
-
-			if (!memcmp(bp, dmi_empty_string, cmp_len))
-				return dmi_empty_string;
+		/* Strings containing only spaces are considered empty */
+		nsp = bp;
+		while (*nsp == ' ')
+			nsp++;
+		if (*nsp != '\0')
 			return bp;
-		}
 	}
 
-	return "";
+	return dmi_empty_string;
 }
 
 static const char * __init dmi_string(const struct dmi_header *dm, u8 s)