diff --git a/src/libnm-core-impl/nm-utils.c b/src/libnm-core-impl/nm-utils.c
index 4f24eba861..88df329148 100644
--- a/src/libnm-core-impl/nm-utils.c
+++ b/src/libnm-core-impl/nm-utils.c
@@ -655,8 +655,13 @@ nm_utils_is_empty_ssid(const guint8 *ssid, gsize len)
  * representation of that character.  Intended for debugging only, should not
  * be used for display of SSIDs.
  *
+ * Warning: this function uses a static buffer. It is not thread-safe. Don't
+ *   use this function.
+ *
  * Returns: pointer to the escaped SSID, which uses an internal static buffer
  * and will be overwritten by subsequent calls to this function
+ *
+ * Deprecated: 1.46: use nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8() or nm_utils_bin2hexstr().
  **/
 const char *
 nm_utils_escape_ssid(const guint8 *ssid, gsize len)
diff --git a/src/libnm-core-public/nm-utils.h b/src/libnm-core-public/nm-utils.h
index ca399c4c3e..35ef580db7 100644
--- a/src/libnm-core-public/nm-utils.h
+++ b/src/libnm-core-public/nm-utils.h
@@ -24,14 +24,17 @@ G_BEGIN_DECLS
 typedef struct _NMVariantAttributeSpec NMVariantAttributeSpec;
 
 /* SSID helpers */
-gboolean    nm_utils_is_empty_ssid(const guint8 *ssid, gsize len);
+gboolean nm_utils_is_empty_ssid(const guint8 *ssid, gsize len);
+
+NM_DEPRECATED_IN_1_46
 const char *nm_utils_escape_ssid(const guint8 *ssid, gsize len);
-gboolean    nm_utils_same_ssid(const guint8 *ssid1,
-                               gsize         len1,
-                               const guint8 *ssid2,
-                               gsize         len2,
-                               gboolean      ignore_trailing_null);
-char       *nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8(const guint8 *ssid, gsize len);
+
+gboolean nm_utils_same_ssid(const guint8 *ssid1,
+                            gsize         len1,
+                            const guint8 *ssid2,
+                            gsize         len2,
+                            gboolean      ignore_trailing_null);
+char    *nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8(const guint8 *ssid, gsize len);
 
 /**
  * NMUtilsSecurityType:
diff --git a/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c b/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c
index 6cbfea2c8a..f8620279b3 100644
--- a/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c
+++ b/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c
@@ -5970,6 +5970,9 @@ nm_utils_exp10(gint16 ex)
 gboolean
 _nm_utils_is_empty_ssid_arr(const guint8 *ssid, gsize len)
 {
+    if (len == 0)
+        return TRUE;
+
     /* Single white space is for Linksys APs */
     if (len == 1 && ssid[0] == ' ')
         return TRUE;