diff --git a/hubploy/config.py b/hubploy/config.py
index cc9c33e..fddf893 100644
--- a/hubploy/config.py
+++ b/hubploy/config.py
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
 from repo2docker.app import Repo2Docker
 import docker
 
-from . import gitutils
+
+from . import utils
 yaml = YAML(typ='safe')
 
 class DeploymentNotFoundError(Exception):
@@ -33,9 +34,13 @@ def __init__(self, name, path, helm_substitution_path='jupyterhub.singleuser.ima
 
         Expects cwd to be inside the git repo we are operating in
         """
+        # name must not be empty
+        # FIXME: Validate name to conform to docker image name guidelines
+        if not name or name.strip() == '':
+            raise ValueError("Name of image to be built is not specified. Check hubploy.yaml of your deployment")
         self.name = name
 
-        self.tag = gitutils.last_modified_commit(path)
+        self.tag = utils.last_modified_commit(path)
         self.path = path
         self.helm_substitution_path = helm_substitution_path
         self.image_spec = f'{self.name}:{self.tag}'
@@ -49,7 +54,6 @@ def __init__(self, name, path, helm_substitution_path='jupyterhub.singleuser.ima
         self.r2d.target_repo_dir = '/srv/repo'
         self.r2d.initialize()
 
-
     @property
     def docker(self):
         """
@@ -99,7 +103,7 @@ def get_possible_parent_tags(self, n=16):
             # FIXME: Make this look for last modified since before beginning of commit_range
             # Otherwise, if there are more than n commits in the current PR that touch this
             # local image, we might not get any useful caches
-            yield gitutils.last_modified_commit(self.path, n=i)
+            yield utils.last_modified_commit(self.path, n=i)
 
     def fetch_parent_image(self):
         """
@@ -136,7 +140,7 @@ def needs_building(self, check_registry=False, commit_range=None):
             return not self.exists_in_registry()
 
         if commit_range:
-            return gitutils.path_touched(self.path, commit_range=commit_range)
+            return utils.path_touched(self.path, commit_range=commit_range)
 
 
     def build(self, reuse_cache=True):
diff --git a/hubploy/gitutils.py b/hubploy/utils.py
similarity index 97%
rename from hubploy/gitutils.py
rename to hubploy/utils.py
index 55bcead..b72ee25 100644
--- a/hubploy/gitutils.py
+++ b/hubploy/utils.py
@@ -65,4 +65,4 @@ def path_touched(*paths, commit_range):
     """
     return subprocess.check_output([
         'git', 'diff', '--name-only', commit_range, '--', *paths
-    ]).decode('utf-8').strip() != ''
+    ]).decode('utf-8').strip() != ''
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/test_imagebuilder.py b/tests/test_imagebuilder.py
index 3de8019..6752baf 100644
--- a/tests/test_imagebuilder.py
+++ b/tests/test_imagebuilder.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 import time
 import docker.errors
 
-from hubploy import config, gitutils
+from hubploy import config, utils
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
@@ -93,15 +93,15 @@ def test_tag_generation(git_repo):
 
     with cwd(git_repo):
         image = config.LocalImage('test-image', 'image')
-        assert image.tag == gitutils.last_modified_commit('image')
+        assert image.tag == utils.last_modified_commit('image')
         # Make sure tag isn't influenced by changes outside of iamge dir
-        assert image.tag != gitutils.last_modified_commit('unrelated')
+        assert image.tag != utils.last_modified_commit('unrelated')
 
 
         # Change the Dockerfile and see that the tag changes
         commit_file(git_repo, 'image/Dockerfile', 'FROM busybox:latest')
         new_image = config.LocalImage('test-image', 'image')
-        assert new_image.tag == gitutils.last_modified_commit('image')
+        assert new_image.tag == utils.last_modified_commit('image')
         assert new_image.tag != image.tag