diff --git a/src/applications/repository/xaction/PhabricatorRepositoryEncodingTransaction.php b/src/applications/repository/xaction/PhabricatorRepositoryEncodingTransaction.php
--- a/src/applications/repository/xaction/PhabricatorRepositoryEncodingTransaction.php
+++ b/src/applications/repository/xaction/PhabricatorRepositoryEncodingTransaction.php
@@ -17,12 +17,12 @@
     $old = $this->getOldValue();
     $new = $this->getNewValue();
 
-    if (strlen($old) && !strlen($new)) {
+    if (phutil_nonempty_string($old) && !strlen($new)) {
       return pht(
         '%s removed the %s encoding configured for this repository.',
         $this->renderAuthor(),
         $this->renderOldValue());
-    } else if (strlen($new) && !strlen($old)) {
+    } else if (strlen($new) && !phutil_nonempty_string($old)) {
       return pht(
         '%s set the encoding for this repository to %s.',
         $this->renderAuthor(),