diff --git a/lib/handlebars/compiler/javascript-compiler.js b/lib/handlebars/compiler/javascript-compiler.js
index 0bb181697..b7318bc04 100644
--- a/lib/handlebars/compiler/javascript-compiler.js
+++ b/lib/handlebars/compiler/javascript-compiler.js
@@ -843,7 +843,7 @@ for(var i=0, l=reservedWords.length; i<l; i++) {
 }
 
 JavaScriptCompiler.isValidJavaScriptVariableName = function(name) {
-  if(!JavaScriptCompiler.RESERVED_WORDS[name] && /^[a-zA-Z_$][0-9a-zA-Z_$]+$/.test(name)) {
+  if(!JavaScriptCompiler.RESERVED_WORDS[name] && /^[a-zA-Z_$][0-9a-zA-Z_$]*$/.test(name)) {
     return true;
   }
   return false;