diff --git a/include/boost/json/impl/serializer.ipp b/include/boost/json/impl/serializer.ipp
index 5a0baea32..89c6b4ade 100644
--- a/include/boost/json/impl/serializer.ipp
+++ b/include/boost/json/impl/serializer.ipp
@@ -542,6 +542,9 @@ read(char* dest, std::size_t size)
     if( !fn0_ )
         reset(nullptr);
 
+    if(BOOST_JSON_UNLIKELY(size == 0))
+        return {dest, 0};
+
     detail::stream ss(dest, size);
     if(st_.empty())
         fn0_(*this, ss);
diff --git a/test/serializer.cpp b/test/serializer.cpp
index 5cb257b6e..d2f82a9e1 100644
--- a/test/serializer.cpp
+++ b/test/serializer.cpp
@@ -896,6 +896,10 @@ class serializer_test
     void
     run()
     {
+        {
+            serializer sr;
+            BOOST_ASSERT( sr.read(nullptr, 0).empty() );
+        }
         testNull();
         testBoolean();
         testString();