diff --git a/library/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer/hls/Variant.java b/library/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer/hls/Variant.java
index 80846d0011..b34ace69fb 100644
--- a/library/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer/hls/Variant.java
+++ b/library/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer/hls/Variant.java
@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ public final class Variant implements FormatWrapper {
   public Variant(int index, String name, String url, int bitrate, String codecs, int width, int height) {
     this.url = url;
     this.name = name;
-    format = new Format(Integer.toString(index), MimeTypes.APPLICATION_M3U8, width, height, -1, -1,
-            -1, bitrate, null, codecs);
+    String formatName = name != null ? name : Integer.toString(index);
+    format = new Format(formatName, MimeTypes.APPLICATION_M3U8, width, height, -1, -1,
+        -1, bitrate, null, codecs);
   }
 
   @Override