diff --git a/include/inivalue.h b/include/inivalue.h
index 4f574af0..00373e69 100644
--- a/include/inivalue.h
+++ b/include/inivalue.h
@@ -112,7 +112,8 @@ class PHPCPP_EXPORT IniValue
      */
     std::string stringValue() const
     {
-        return std::string(rawValue());
+        auto value = rawValue();
+        return std::string(value ? value : "");
     }
 
     /**