diff --git a/packages/wordcount/src/index.js b/packages/wordcount/src/index.js
index a21ab44d1eacb..cf29a91e2088d 100644
--- a/packages/wordcount/src/index.js
+++ b/packages/wordcount/src/index.js
@@ -95,10 +95,10 @@ export function count( text, type, userSettings ) {
 	const settings = loadSettings( type, userSettings );
 	if ( text ) {
 		let matchRegExp = settings[ type + 'RegExp' ];
-		if ( 'words' === settings.type ) {
-			return matchWords( text, matchRegExp, settings ).length;
-		} else {
-			return matchCharacters( text, matchRegExp, settings ).length;
-		}
+		const results = ( 'words' === settings.type ) ?
+			matchWords( text, matchRegExp, settings ) :
+			matchCharacters( text, matchRegExp, settings );
+
+		return results ? results.length : 0;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/packages/wordcount/src/test/index.test.js b/packages/wordcount/src/test/index.test.js
index ddabdd133e082..afaee5c8beaa3 100644
--- a/packages/wordcount/src/test/index.test.js
+++ b/packages/wordcount/src/test/index.test.js
@@ -84,6 +84,13 @@ describe( 'WordCounter', () => {
 				words: 1,
 				characters_excluding_spaces: 5,
 				characters_including_spaces: 6
+			},
+			{
+				message: "Empty Tags",
+				string: "<p></p>",
+				words: 0,
+				characters_excluding_spaces: 0,
+				characters_including_spaces: 0
 			}
 	];