diff --git a/api/project.go b/api/project.go
index 073fcdab0..75ba05342 100644
--- a/api/project.go
+++ b/api/project.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package api
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
+	"strings"
 	"unicode"
 
 	"github.com/vmware/harbor/dao"
@@ -294,10 +295,10 @@ func validateProjectReq(req projectReq) error {
 	if isContainIllegalChar(req.ProjectName, []string{"~", "-", "$", "\\", "[", "]", "{", "}", "(", ")", "&", "^", "%", "*", "<", ">", "\"", "'", "/", "?", "@"}) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("project name contains illegal characters")
 	}
-	for _, v := range pn {
-		if !unicode.IsLower(v) {
-			return fmt.Errorf("project name must be in lower case")
-		}
+
+	if pn != strings.ToLower(pn) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("project name must be in lower case")
 	}
+
 	return nil
 }