diff --git a/openmls/src/credentials/errors.rs b/openmls/src/credentials/errors.rs
index f3cab97472..f0788eb260 100644
--- a/openmls/src/credentials/errors.rs
+++ b/openmls/src/credentials/errors.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ pub enum CredentialError {
     #[error("Invalid signature.")]
     InvalidSignature,
     /// Incomplete x509 certificate chain
-    #[error("x509 certificate chain is either empty or contains a single self-signed certificate which is not allowed.")]
+    #[error("x509 certificate chain is empty")]
     IncompleteCertificateChain,
     /// Failed to decode certificate data
     #[error("Failed to decode certificate data: {0}")]
diff --git a/x509_credential/src/lib.rs b/x509_credential/src/lib.rs
index c2b884fbd5..194030c404 100644
--- a/x509_credential/src/lib.rs
+++ b/x509_credential/src/lib.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ impl CertificateKeyPair {
     /// Constructs the `CertificateKeyPair` from a private key and a der encoded
     /// certificate chain
     pub fn new(sk: Vec<u8>, cert_chain: Vec<Vec<u8>>) -> Result<Self, CryptoError> {
-        if cert_chain.len() < 2 {
+        if cert_chain.is_empty() {
             return Err(CryptoError::IncompleteCertificateChain);
         }
         let pki_path = cert_chain.into_iter().try_fold(