diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 258bfd6..78364a0 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -1012,6 +1012,9 @@
 	if (!option_origin)
 		option_origin = "origin";
 
+	if (!valid_remote_name(option_origin))
+		die(_("'%s' is not a valid remote name"), option_origin);
+
 	repo_name = argv[0];
 
 	path = get_repo_path(repo_name, &is_bundle);