diff --git a/cunit/util.testc b/cunit/util.testc
index 9e3d6b41e7..6dbaa979e1 100644
--- a/cunit/util.testc
+++ b/cunit/util.testc
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ static void test_xsyslog_ev_escape_value(void)
          "\r",               "\"\\r\"",
          "\r\n",             "\"\\r\\n\"",
          "-12.345e67",       "-12.345e67",
+         "",                 "\"\"",
          NULL,
      };
 
diff --git a/lib/util.c b/lib/util.c
index 48456afd10..3f523b6603 100644
--- a/lib/util.c
+++ b/lib/util.c
@@ -2448,6 +2448,7 @@ static const char *xsyslog_ev_escape_value(struct buf *val)
     const char *p;
 
     escaped_len = orig_len = buf_len(val);
+    if (orig_len == 0) { return "\"\""; } // Make sure the empty string is visible
 
     for (p = buf_cstring(val); *p; p++) {
         switch (*p) {