diff --git a/src/modules/kvs/fence.c b/src/modules/kvs/fence.c
index dc6a3852a47c..833ccbfa7a42 100644
--- a/src/modules/kvs/fence.c
+++ b/src/modules/kvs/fence.c
@@ -60,10 +60,14 @@ void fence_destroy (fence_t *f)
 
 fence_t *fence_create (const char *name, int nprocs, int flags)
 {
-    fence_t *f;
+    fence_t *f = NULL;
     json_t *s = NULL;
     int saved_errno;
 
+    if (!name || nprocs <= 0) {
+        saved_errno = EINVAL;
+        goto error;
+    }
     if (!(f = calloc (1, sizeof (*f)))
         || !(f->ops = json_array ())
         || !(f->names = json_array ())
@@ -74,16 +78,14 @@ fence_t *fence_create (const char *name, int nprocs, int flags)
     f->nprocs = nprocs;
     f->flags = flags;
     f->aux_int = 0;
-    if (name) {
-        if (!(s = json_string (name))) {
-            saved_errno = ENOMEM;
-            goto error;
-        }
-        if (json_array_append_new (f->names, s) < 0) {
-            json_decref (s);
-            saved_errno = ENOMEM;
-            goto error;
-        }
+    if (!(s = json_string (name))) {
+        saved_errno = ENOMEM;
+        goto error;
+    }
+    if (json_array_append_new (f->names, s) < 0) {
+        json_decref (s);
+        saved_errno = ENOMEM;
+        goto error;
     }
 
     return f;
diff --git a/src/modules/kvs/test/fence.c b/src/modules/kvs/test/fence.c
index a5acc7553d6d..edf02a05eb69 100644
--- a/src/modules/kvs/test/fence.c
+++ b/src/modules/kvs/test/fence.c
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ void basic_api_tests (void)
     flux_msg_t *request;
     int count = 0;
 
+    ok (fence_create (NULL, 0, 0) == NULL,
+        "fence_create fails on bad input");
+
     ok ((f = fence_create ("foo", 1, 3)) != NULL,
         "fence_create works");