diff --git a/src/input_handler.cc b/src/input_handler.cc
index 794a9f5a..8f9e20f4 100644
--- a/src/input_handler.cc
+++ b/src/input_handler.cc
@@ -968,7 +968,8 @@ private:
     {
         display();
         m_line_changed = false;
-        m_callback(m_line_editor.line(), PromptEvent::Change, context());
+        m_callback((m_flags & PromptFlags::InactiveInitString) ? StringView{} : m_line_editor.line(),
+                   PromptEvent::Change, context());
 
         if (not (context().flags() & Context::Flags::Transient))
             m_idle_timer.set_next_date(Clock::now() + get_idle_timeout(context()));
diff --git a/src/normal.cc b/src/normal.cc
index bd399dc9..50062632 100644
--- a/src/normal.cc
+++ b/src/normal.cc
@@ -718,7 +718,8 @@ void regex_prompt(Context& context, String prompt, String default_regex, T func)
                 if (event == PromptEvent::Validate)
                     context.push_jump();
 
-                func(str.empty() ? Regex{default_regex} : Regex{str}, event, context);
+                if (not str.empty() or event == PromptEvent::Validate)
+                    func(str.empty() ? Regex{default_regex} : Regex{str}, event, context);
             }
             catch (regex_error& err)
             {