diff --git a/git-hooks/sanitize-commit b/git-hooks/sanitize-commit
index 5963e084d38b8dbca235564d6781542c6995c61e..64f51728303684885217278d553bc7b94d80bd28 100755
--- a/git-hooks/sanitize-commit
+++ b/git-hooks/sanitize-commit
@@ -133,6 +133,8 @@ sub complain_spelling()
 # Given a line of text, searches for likely spelling errors.
 sub check_spelling()
 {
+    return if (!%MISTAKES_BASE);
+
     my %seen;
     my (@words) = split(/\b/);
     foreach my $word (@words) {