diff --git a/src/js/game/shape_definition.js b/src/js/game/shape_definition.js
index ec8d1cef..a521930f 100644
--- a/src/js/game/shape_definition.js
+++ b/src/js/game/shape_definition.js
@@ -177,6 +177,11 @@ export class ShapeDefinition extends BasicSerializableObject {
      */
     static isValidShortKeyInternal(key) {
         const sourceLayers = key.split(":");
+
+        if (sourceLayers.length === 0 || sourceLayers.length > 4) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
         let layers = [];
         for (let i = 0; i < sourceLayers.length; ++i) {
             const text = sourceLayers[i];
@@ -222,10 +227,6 @@ export class ShapeDefinition extends BasicSerializableObject {
             layers.push(quads);
         }
 
-        if (layers.length === 0 || layers.length > 4) {
-            return false;
-        }
-
         return true;
     }