diff --git a/src/basic/stat-util.c b/src/basic/stat-util.c
index cbdcf19054..94b4f55c34 100644
--- a/src/basic/stat-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/stat-util.c
@@ -184,19 +184,19 @@ int dir_is_empty_at(int dir_fd, const char *path, bool ignore_hidden_or_backup)
         return 1;
 }
 
-bool null_or_empty(struct stat *st) {
+bool stat_may_be_dev_null(struct stat *st) {
         assert(st);
 
-        if (S_ISREG(st->st_mode) && st->st_size <= 0)
-                return true;
-
         /* We don't want to hardcode the major/minor of /dev/null, hence we do a simpler "is this a character
          * device node?" check. */
 
-        if (S_ISCHR(st->st_mode))
-                return true;
+        return S_ISCHR(st->st_mode);
+}
 
-        return false;
+bool stat_is_empty(struct stat *st) {
+        assert(st);
+
+        return S_ISREG(st->st_mode) && st->st_size <= 0;
 }
 
 int null_or_empty_path_with_root(const char *fn, const char *root) {
diff --git a/src/basic/stat-util.h b/src/basic/stat-util.h
index 11da6f4ab7..347d885a19 100644
--- a/src/basic/stat-util.h
+++ b/src/basic/stat-util.h
@@ -29,7 +29,11 @@ static inline int dir_is_empty(const char *path, bool ignore_hidden_or_backup) {
         return dir_is_empty_at(AT_FDCWD, path, ignore_hidden_or_backup);
 }
 
-bool null_or_empty(struct stat *st) _pure_;
+bool stat_may_be_dev_null(struct stat *st) _pure_;
+bool stat_is_empty(struct stat *st) _pure_;
+static inline bool null_or_empty(struct stat *st) {
+        return stat_may_be_dev_null(st) || stat_is_empty(st);
+}
 int null_or_empty_path_with_root(const char *fn, const char *root);
 
 static inline int null_or_empty_path(const char *fn) {