diff --git a/src/runner.c b/src/runner.c
index 747805dd9..9175cf042 100644
--- a/src/runner.c
+++ b/src/runner.c
@@ -5062,7 +5062,9 @@ static bool restoreCheckpointVariables(VMContext* vm, Instance* target, const Js
     if (!JsonReader_isObject(object)) return false;
     repeat(JsonReader_objectLength(object), i) {
         const char* name = JsonReader_getJsonKeyByIndex(object, i);
-        if (name == nullptr || name[0] == '\0') return false;
+        // Some GameMaker VARI chunks contain an empty name for a real variable ID.
+        // Checkpoint v2 already writes that name as a valid empty JSON object key.
+        if (name == nullptr) return false;
         RValue value = RValue_makeUndefined();
         if (!checkpointRValueFromJson(vm, JsonReader_getJsonValueByIndex(object, i), 0, remainingCells, &value)) return false;
         Instance_setSelfVar(target, VM_getOrAllocateVarID(vm, name), value);
diff --git a/tests/test_retrom_web_host.py b/tests/test_retrom_web_host.py
index cb0215cfd..b0c71452e 100755
--- a/tests/test_retrom_web_host.py
+++ b/tests/test_retrom_web_host.py
@@ -77,6 +77,15 @@ def test_checkpoint_v2_preserves_supported_game_data_structures(self) -> None:
         self.assertIn("writeUint32LE(gCheckpointBytes + 4, 2);", self.source)
         self.assertIn("readUint32LE(bytes + 4) != 2", self.source)
 
+    def test_checkpoint_v2_restores_empty_game_variable_names(self) -> None:
+        runner = (ROOT / "src/runner.c").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        start = runner.index("static bool restoreCheckpointVariables")
+        end = runner.index("static void clearCheckpointInstances", start)
+        restore = runner[start:end]
+        self.assertIn("name == nullptr", restore)
+        self.assertNotIn("name[0] == '\\0'", restore)
+        self.assertIn("VM_getOrAllocateVarID(vm, name)", restore)
+
     def test_closing_a_dirty_ini_clears_the_transient_checkpoint_blocker(self) -> None:
         start = self.builtins.index("static RValue builtin_ini_close")
         end = self.builtins.index("static RValue builtin_ini_read_string", start)