diff --git a/ext/gd/gd.c b/ext/gd/gd.c
index 88d04824eac..7a50fb423ed 100644
--- a/ext/gd/gd.c
+++ b/ext/gd/gd.c
@@ -1483,8 +1483,9 @@ PHP_FUNCTION(imagecreatefromstring)
 	}
 
 	if (ZSTR_LEN(data) < sizeof(sig)) {
-		zend_argument_value_error(1, "cannot be empty");
-		RETURN_THROWS();
+		/* Handle this the same way as an unknown image type. */
+		php_error_docref(NULL, E_WARNING, "Data is not in a recognized format");
+		RETURN_FALSE;
 	}
 
 	memcpy(sig, ZSTR_VAL(data), sizeof(sig));
diff --git a/ext/gd/tests/createfromstring.phpt b/ext/gd/tests/createfromstring.phpt
index 6586d17c31d..f3e40b26a90 100644
--- a/ext/gd/tests/createfromstring.phpt
+++ b/ext/gd/tests/createfromstring.phpt
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ $im = imagecreatefromstring(' asdf jklp foo');
 --EXPECTF--
 createfromstring truecolor png: ok
 createfromstring palette png: ok
-imagecreatefromstring(): Argument #1 ($data) cannot be empty
 
-Warning: imagecreatefromstring(): Data is not in a recognized format in %screatefromstring.php on line %d
+Warning: imagecreatefromstring(): Data is not in a recognized format in %s on line %d
+
+Warning: imagecreatefromstring(): Data is not in a recognized format in %s on line %d