diff --git a/match.c b/match.c
index 112c5ca..7856bca 100644
--- a/match.c
+++ b/match.c
@@ -125,14 +125,18 @@ MatchRule *match_rule_from_string(char *d)
         } else if (strcmp(key, "destination") == 0 && !rule->destination) {
             rule->destination = string_dup(acc);
         } else if (strcmp(key, "arg0namespace") == 0 && !rule->arg0namespace) {
+            rule->has_arg_rules = true;
             rule->arg0namespace = string_dup(acc);
         } else if (strncmp(key, "arg", 3) == 0) {
+            rule->has_arg_rules = true;
+
             char *part = key + 3;
             if (!*part) {
                 goto fail;
             }
 
             // thanks: https://github.com/bus1/dbus-broker/blob/55fe5443d88ee2b93afa340b82ad89508ff017e2/src/bus/match.c#L105
+            // TODO: is this right?
             size_t partn = strlen(part);
             uint32_t index = 0;
             for (unsigned int i = 0; i < 2 && partn; i++, part++, --partn) {
@@ -203,7 +207,7 @@ int match_rule_check(BusClient *sender_client, MatchRule *rule, WireMsg *msg, Wi
     }
 
     if (!sender_client) {
-        // if the sender is negative, we assume the message is coming from the message bus
+        // if the sender is null, we assume the message is coming from the message bus
         if (rule->sender && strcmp(rule->sender, "org.freedesktop.DBus") != 0) {
             return -1;
         }
@@ -219,19 +223,20 @@ int match_rule_check(BusClient *sender_client, MatchRule *rule, WireMsg *msg, Wi
     /* todo: path_namespace */
     _check_header_field_str(destination, DBUS_HEADER_FIELD_DESTINATION);
 
-    WireMsgBodyString strings[MATCH_RULE_MAX_ARG];
-    memset(strings, 0, sizeof(strings));
-    /* TODO: handle failure */
-    TRYST(wire_collect_strings(ctx, msg, strings, MATCH_RULE_MAX_ARG));
+    if (rule->has_arg_rules) {
+        WireMsgBodyString strings[MATCH_RULE_MAX_ARG] = {0};
+        /* TODO: handle failure */
+        TRYST(wire_collect_strings(ctx, msg, strings, MATCH_RULE_MAX_ARG));
 
-    for (int i = 0; i < MATCH_RULE_MAX_ARG; i++) {
-        if (rule->arg[i] && (!strings[i].str || strcmp(strings[i].str, rule->arg[i]) != 0)) {
-            return -1;
+        for (int i = 0; i < MATCH_RULE_MAX_ARG; i++) {
+            if (rule->arg[i] && (!strings[i].str || strcmp(strings[i].str, rule->arg[i]) != 0)) {
+                return -1;
+            }
+            /* todo: arg_path */
         }
-        /* todo: arg_path */
-    }
 
-    /* todo: arg0namespace */
+        /* todo: arg0namespace */
+    }
 
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/server.h b/server.h
index 1f700bf..c7f6a5c 100644
--- a/server.h
+++ b/server.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 typedef struct {
     uint8_t type;
+    bool has_arg_rules;
     bool eavesdrop;
     char *sender, *interface, *member, *path, *path_namespace, *destination, *arg0namespace, *rule_string;
     char *arg[MATCH_RULE_MAX_ARG]; /* TODO: spec states that indexes 0 to 63 should be supported */