diff --git a/toke.c b/toke.c
index 1fc30f378027..714c954dd573 100644
--- a/toke.c
+++ b/toke.c
@@ -14028,7 +14028,7 @@ Perl_valid_identifier_sv(pTHX_ SV *sv)
 
     STRLEN len;
     const char *pv = SvPV_const(sv, len);
-    return valid_identifier_pvn(pv, len, SvUTF8(sv));
+    return valid_identifier_pve(pv, pv + len, SvUTF8(sv));
 }
 
 /*