diff --git a/app/models/profile.rb b/app/models/profile.rb
index 7c5a0e9..fc74365 100644
--- a/app/models/profile.rb
+++ b/app/models/profile.rb
@@ -741,7 +741,11 @@ private :generate_url, :url_options
   include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
   def short_name(chars = 40)
     if self[:nickname].blank?
-      truncate self.name, :length => chars, :omission => '...'
+      if chars
+        truncate self.name, :length => chars, :omission => '...'
+      else
+        self.name
+      end
     else
       self[:nickname]
     end
--
libgit2 0.21.2