diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 296134b3c..ba9e2a096 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2002-12-15  Havoc Pennington  <hp@pobox.com>
+
+	* src/prefs.c (meta_prefs_change_workspace_name): don't pass NULL
+	string to gconf_client_set_string #101237
+
 2002-12-13  Havoc Pennington  <hp@redhat.com>
 
 	* src/tools/Makefile.am (Desktop_in_files): only install .desktop
diff --git a/src/prefs.c b/src/prefs.c
index 380e8fb37..2a88164ec 100644
--- a/src/prefs.c
+++ b/src/prefs.c
@@ -1711,10 +1711,15 @@ meta_prefs_change_workspace_name (int         i,
   key = gconf_key_for_workspace_name (i);
 
   err = NULL;
-  gconf_client_set_string (default_client,
-                           key, name,
-                           &err);
+  if (name != NULL)
+    gconf_client_set_string (default_client,
+                             key, name,
+                             &err);
+  else
+    gconf_client_unset (default_client,
+                        key, &err);
 
+  
   if (err)
     {
       meta_warning (_("Error setting name for workspace %d to \"%s\": %s\n"),