diff --git a/pkg/registries/registries.go b/pkg/registries/registries.go
index cdb752c..62d24f0 100644
--- a/pkg/registries/registries.go
+++ b/pkg/registries/registries.go
@@ -221,6 +221,9 @@ func EditRegistriesConfig(config *sysregistriesv2.V2RegistriesConf, insecureScop
 // This function can be used to validate the registries entries prior to calling EditRegistriesConfig
 // in the MCO or builds code
 func IsValidRegistriesConfScope(scope string) bool {
+	if scope == "" {
+		return false
+	}
 	// If scope does not contain the wildcard character, we will assume it is a regular registry entry, which is valid
 	if !strings.Contains(scope, "*") {
 		return true
diff --git a/pkg/registries/registries_test.go b/pkg/registries/registries_test.go
index 9292be5..5957794 100644
--- a/pkg/registries/registries_test.go
+++ b/pkg/registries/registries_test.go
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ func TestIsValidRegistriesConfScope(t *testing.T) {
 		{"*example.com", false},
 		{"*/example.com", false},
 		{"*.*example.com", false},
+		{"", false}, // Invalid empty string entry
 	} {
 		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("%#v", tt.scope), func(t *testing.T) {
 			res := IsValidRegistriesConfScope(tt.scope)