diff --git a/clientapi/routing/profile.go b/clientapi/routing/profile.go
index 8a44834e11..c89ece41ff 100644
--- a/clientapi/routing/profile.go
+++ b/clientapi/routing/profile.go
@@ -104,12 +104,6 @@ func SetAvatarURL(
 	if resErr := httputil.UnmarshalJSONRequest(req, &r); resErr != nil {
 		return *resErr
 	}
-	if r.AvatarURL == "" {
-		return util.JSONResponse{
-			Code: http.StatusBadRequest,
-			JSON: spec.BadJSON("'avatar_url' must be supplied."),
-		}
-	}
 
 	localpart, domain, err := gomatrixserverlib.SplitID('@', userID)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -199,12 +193,6 @@ func SetDisplayName(
 	if resErr := httputil.UnmarshalJSONRequest(req, &r); resErr != nil {
 		return *resErr
 	}
-	if r.DisplayName == "" {
-		return util.JSONResponse{
-			Code: http.StatusBadRequest,
-			JSON: spec.BadJSON("'displayname' must be supplied."),
-		}
-	}
 
 	localpart, domain, err := gomatrixserverlib.SplitID('@', userID)
 	if err != nil {