diff --git a/CONTRIBUTORS b/CONTRIBUTORS
index f2165d9d7..57b29de7a 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTORS
+++ b/CONTRIBUTORS
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ Christoph Wilhelms
 Christophe Labouisse
 Christopher A. Longo
 Christopher Charlier
+Clark Archer
 Clemens Hammacher
 Clement OUDOT
 Conor MacNeill
diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index bd3d15c7f..cd04d4e8c 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@ Other changes:
    meaningful error message
    Bugzilla Report 48834
    
+ * <junit> will now throw an exception if a test name is empty.  This
+   used to manifest itself in unrelated errors like
+   Bugzilla Report 43586.
+
 Changes from Ant 1.8.0RC1 TO Ant 1.8.0
 ======================================
 
diff --git a/contributors.xml b/contributors.xml
index 44b5cb193..57adce3a0 100644
--- a/contributors.xml
+++ b/contributors.xml
@@ -214,6 +214,10 @@
     <first>Christopher</first>
     <last>Charlier</last>
   </name>
+  <name>
+    <first>Clark</first>
+    <last>Archer</last>
+  </name>
   <name>
     <first>Clemens</first>
     <last>Hammacher</last>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/junit/JUnitTask.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/junit/JUnitTask.java
index e30ae7ce2..fb99d836d 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/junit/JUnitTask.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/junit/JUnitTask.java
@@ -789,6 +789,8 @@ public class JUnitTask extends Task {
      * @throws BuildException in case of test failures or errors
      */
     protected void execute(JUnitTest arg) throws BuildException {
+        validateTestName(arg.getName());
+
         JUnitTest test = (JUnitTest) arg.clone();
         // set the default values if not specified
         //@todo should be moved to the test class instead.
@@ -812,6 +814,20 @@ public class JUnitTask extends Task {
         actOnTestResult(result, test, "Test " + test.getName());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Throws a <code>BuildException</code> if the given test name is invalid.
+     * Validity is defined as not <code>null</code>, not empty, and not the
+     * string &quot;null&quot;.
+     * @param testName the test name to be validated
+     * @throws BuildException if <code>testName</code> is not a valid test name
+     */
+    private void validateTestName(String testName) throws BuildException {
+        if (testName == null || testName.length() == 0
+            || testName.equals("null")) {
+            throw new BuildException("test name must be specified");
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Execute a list of tests in a single forked Java VM.
      * @param testList the list of tests to execute.
diff --git a/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/optional/junit/junit-test.xml b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/optional/junit/junit-test.xml
index 4613d23df..7755bf5ac 100644
--- a/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/optional/junit/junit-test.xml
+++ b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/optional/junit/junit-test.xml
@@ -289,4 +289,13 @@ public class BTest extends TestCase {
     <au:assertLogDoesntContain text="Running test.HTest"/>
   </target>
 
+  <target name="testMissingTestName">
+    <property name="test.name" value="null"/>
+    <au:expectfailure message="test name must be specified">
+      <junit fork="false">
+        <test name="${test.name}"/>
+      </junit>
+    </au:expectfailure>
+  </target>
+
 </project>