diff --git a/src/ripple/json/impl/json_value.cpp b/src/ripple/json/impl/json_value.cpp
index b3d6f160b2..cb22da2ac3 100644
--- a/src/ripple/json/impl/json_value.cpp
+++ b/src/ripple/json/impl/json_value.cpp
@@ -825,10 +825,15 @@ Value::size () const
 bool
 Value::empty () const
 {
-    if ( isNull () || isArray () || isObject () )
-        return size () == 0u;
-    else
-        return false;
+    if (isNull ())
+        return true;
+
+    if (isString ()) {
+        auto s = asCString();
+        return !(s && strlen(s));
+    }
+
+    return (isArray () || isObject ()) && ! size ();
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/ripple/json/tests/json_value.test.cpp b/src/ripple/json/tests/json_value.test.cpp
index 3f21f4f507..83c7cdece3 100644
--- a/src/ripple/json/tests/json_value.test.cpp
+++ b/src/ripple/json/tests/json_value.test.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,29 @@ namespace ripple {
 class json_value_test : public beast::unit_test::suite
 {
 public:
+    void test_empty()
+    {
+        expect (Json::Value().empty());
+
+        expect (Json::Value("").empty());
+
+        expect (! Json::Value("empty").empty());
+        expect (! Json::Value(false).empty());
+        expect (! Json::Value(true).empty());
+        expect (! Json::Value(0).empty());
+        expect (! Json::Value(1).empty());
+
+        Json::Value array (Json::arrayValue);
+        expect (array.empty());
+        array.append(0);
+        expect (!array.empty());
+
+        Json::Value object (Json::objectValue);
+        expect (object.empty());
+        object[""] = false;
+        expect (!object.empty());
+    }
+
     void test_bad_json ()
     {
         char const* s (
@@ -197,6 +220,7 @@ public:
 
     void run ()
     {
+        test_empty ();
         test_bad_json ();
         test_edge_cases ();
         test_copy ();