diff --git a/nslcd/myldap.c b/nslcd/myldap.c
index afa1daf..40a03c7 100644
--- a/nslcd/myldap.c
+++ b/nslcd/myldap.c
@@ -534,10 +534,10 @@ static int do_ppolicy_bind(MYLDAP_SESSION *session, LDAP *ld, const char *uri)
   requestctrls[1] = NULL;
   /* build password berval */
   cred.bv_val = (char *)session->bindpw;
-  cred.bv_len = (session->bindpw == NULL) ? 0 : strlen(session->bindpw);
+  cred.bv_len = strlen(session->bindpw);
   /* do a SASL simple bind with the binddn and bindpw */
   log_log(LOG_DEBUG, "ldap_sasl_bind(\"%s\",%s) (uri=\"%s\")", session->binddn,
-          ((session->bindpw != NULL) && (session->bindpw[0] != '\0')) ? "\"***\"" : "\"\"", uri);
+          (session->bindpw[0] != '\0') ? "\"***\"" : "\"\"", uri);
   rc = ldap_sasl_bind(ld, session->binddn, LDAP_SASL_SIMPLE, &cred, requestctrls, NULL, &msgid);
   if (rc != LDAP_SUCCESS)
     return rc;
@@ -622,7 +622,7 @@ static int do_bind(MYLDAP_SESSION *session, LDAP *ld, const char *uri)
   }
 #endif /* LDAP_OPT_X_TLS */
   /* check if the binddn and bindpw are overwritten in the session */
-  if ((session->binddn != NULL) && (session->binddn[0] != '\0'))
+  if (session->binddn[0] != '\0')
   {
 #if defined(HAVE_LDAP_SASL_BIND) && defined(LDAP_SASL_SIMPLE)
     return do_ppolicy_bind(session, ld, uri);
diff --git a/pam/pam.c b/pam/pam.c
index dcefa46..f927022 100644
--- a/pam/pam.c
+++ b/pam/pam.c
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ int pam_sm_authenticate(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags,
   {
     rc = nslcd_request_config_get(pamh, &cfg, NSLCD_CONFIG_PAM_PASSWORD_PROHIBIT_MESSAGE,
                                   &resp);
-    if ((rc == PAM_SUCCESS) && (resp.msg != NULL) && (resp.msg[0] != '\0'))
+    if ((rc == PAM_SUCCESS) && (resp.msg[0] != '\0'))
     {
       /* we silently ignore errors to get the configuration option */
       pam_syslog(pamh, LOG_NOTICE, "password change prohibited: %s; user=%s",
@@ -665,7 +665,7 @@ int pam_sm_chauthtok(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags,
   /* check if password modification is allowed */
   rc = nslcd_request_config_get(pamh, &cfg, NSLCD_CONFIG_PAM_PASSWORD_PROHIBIT_MESSAGE,
                                 &resp);
-  if ((rc == PAM_SUCCESS) && (resp.msg != NULL) && (resp.msg[0] != '\0'))
+  if ((rc == PAM_SUCCESS) && (resp.msg[0] != '\0'))
   {
     /* we silently ignore errors to get the configuration option */
     pam_syslog(pamh, LOG_NOTICE, "password change prohibited: %s; user=%s",