diff --git a/python/mxnet/module/base_module.py b/python/mxnet/module/base_module.py
index 053a00b3abba..374d09c05f41 100644
--- a/python/mxnet/module/base_module.py
+++ b/python/mxnet/module/base_module.py
@@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ def fit(self, train_data, eval_data=None, eval_metric='acc',
 
             #----------------------------------------
             # evaluation on validation set
-            if eval_data:
+            if eval_data is not None:
                 res = self.score(eval_data, validation_metric,
                                  score_end_callback=eval_end_callback,
                                  batch_end_callback=eval_batch_end_callback, epoch=epoch)