diff --git a/cuckoo/common/utils.py b/cuckoo/common/utils.py
index 2e9e4c8c9d..5ce38e0c8e 100644
--- a/cuckoo/common/utils.py
+++ b/cuckoo/common/utils.py
@@ -184,6 +184,9 @@ def chardet_enc(s2):
     # If already in unicode, skip.
     if isinstance(s, unicode):
         return s
+    
+    if s == "":
+        return unicode(s)
 
     # First try to decode against a little set of common encodings.
     result = brute_enc(s)