diff --git a/src/parser.rs b/src/parser.rs
index ec9adf9..27edd2f 100644
--- a/src/parser.rs
+++ b/src/parser.rs
@@ -265,11 +265,16 @@ impl<'a> Parser<'a> {
         let mut multiline = false;
         let mut ret = String::new();
 
-        // detect multiline literals
+        // detect multiline literals, but be careful about empty ""
+        // strings
         if self.eat('"') {
-            multiline = true;
-            if !self.expect('"') { return None }
-            self.eat('\n');
+            if self.eat('"') {
+                multiline = true;
+                self.eat('\n');
+            } else {
+                // empty
+                return Some(String(ret))
+            }
         }
 
         loop {
diff --git a/src/test/valid.rs b/src/test/valid.rs
index 9a812d5..1bcfeb2 100644
--- a/src/test/valid.rs
+++ b/src/test/valid.rs
@@ -122,6 +122,9 @@ test!(long_float,
 test!(long_integer,
        include_str!("valid/long-integer.toml"),
        include_str!("valid/long-integer.json"))
+test!(string_empty,
+       include_str!("valid/string-empty.toml"),
+       include_str!("valid/string-empty.json"))
 test!(string_escapes,
        include_str!("valid/string-escapes.toml"),
        include_str!("valid/string-escapes.json"))
diff --git a/src/test/valid/string-empty.json b/src/test/valid/string-empty.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c26d69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/valid/string-empty.json
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+    "answer": {
+        "type": "string",
+        "value": ""
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/valid/string-empty.toml b/src/test/valid/string-empty.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e37e681
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/valid/string-empty.toml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+answer = ""