diff --git a/reference/reference.go b/reference/reference.go
index 5b3e08ee4..dc3af1670 100644
--- a/reference/reference.go
+++ b/reference/reference.go
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ type Canonical interface {
 func SplitHostname(named Named) (string, string) {
 	name := named.Name()
 	match := anchoredNameRegexp.FindStringSubmatch(name)
-	if match == nil || len(match) != 3 {
+	if len(match) != 3 {
 		return "", name
 	}
 	return match[1], match[2]