diff --git a/candidate_base.go b/candidate_base.go
index 230bde8..7703e71 100644
--- a/candidate_base.go
+++ b/candidate_base.go
@@ -424,11 +424,11 @@ func (c *candidateBase) Marshal() string {
 // UnmarshalCandidate creates a Candidate from its string representation
 func UnmarshalCandidate(raw string) (Candidate, error) {
 	split := strings.Fields(raw)
-	switch {
 	// Foundation not specified: not RFC 8445 compliant but seen in the wild
-	case len(split) == 7 && raw[0] == ' ':
+	if len(raw) != 0 && raw[0] == ' ' {
 		split = append([]string{" "}, split...)
-	case len(split) < 8:
+	}
+	if len(split) < 8 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w (%d)", errAttributeTooShortICECandidate, len(split))
 	}