diff --git a/ext/xmlreader/php_xmlreader.c b/ext/xmlreader/php_xmlreader.c
index a8227448a3a..ca773dd03a0 100644
--- a/ext/xmlreader/php_xmlreader.c
+++ b/ext/xmlreader/php_xmlreader.c
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ static void php_xmlreader_string_arg(INTERNAL_FUNCTION_PARAMETERS, xmlreader_rea
 		xmlFree(retchar);
 		return;
 	} else {
-		RETVAL_EMPTY_STRING();
+		RETVAL_NULL();
 	}
 }
 /* }}} */