diff --git a/bindings/python/src/session.cpp b/bindings/python/src/session.cpp
index 8d6c7cdd6..c5174c271 100644
--- a/bindings/python/src/session.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/src/session.cpp
@@ -152,19 +152,23 @@ namespace
 		for (int i = settings_pack::string_type_base;
 			i < settings_pack::max_string_setting_internal; ++i)
 		{
-			ret[name_for_setting(i)] = sett.get_str(i);
+			// deprecated settings are still here, they just have empty names
+			char const* name = name_for_setting(i);
+			if (name[0] != '\0') ret[name] = sett.get_str(i);
 		}
 
 		for (int i = settings_pack::int_type_base;
 			i < settings_pack::max_int_setting_internal; ++i)
 		{
-			ret[name_for_setting(i)] = sett.get_int(i);
+			char const* name = name_for_setting(i);
+			if (name[0] != '\0') ret[name] = sett.get_int(i);
 		}
 
 		for (int i = settings_pack::bool_type_base;
 			i < settings_pack::max_bool_setting_internal; ++i)
 		{
-			ret[name_for_setting(i)] = sett.get_bool(i);
+			char const* name = name_for_setting(i);
+			if (name[0] != '\0') ret[name] = sett.get_bool(i);
 		}
 		return ret;
 	}
diff --git a/bindings/python/test.py b/bindings/python/test.py
index fd20dabbb..28f5e9311 100644
--- a/bindings/python/test.py
+++ b/bindings/python/test.py
@@ -705,6 +705,7 @@ class test_example_client(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_default_settings(self):
 
         default = lt.default_settings()
+        self.assertNotIn('', default)
         print(default)