diff --git a/modules/engine/lib/engine/http.request.js b/modules/engine/lib/engine/http.request.js
index dafdcac9..e284dca5 100644
--- a/modules/engine/lib/engine/http.request.js
+++ b/modules/engine/lib/engine/http.request.js
@@ -404,7 +404,10 @@ function sendOneRequest(args, resourceUri, params, holder, cb) {
 
             // Parse
             try {
-                if(mediaType.subtype === 'xml') {
+                if(!respData || /^\s*$/.test(respData)){
+                    respJson = {};
+                }
+                else if(mediaType.subtype === 'xml') {
                     respJson = expat.toJson(respData, {object: true});
                 }
                 else if(mediaType.subtype === 'json') {
diff --git a/modules/engine/test/empty-json-handle-test.js b/modules/engine/test/empty-json-handle-test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8fdbc35f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/engine/test/empty-json-handle-test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2011 eBay Software Foundation
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+var _ = require('underscore'),
+    Engine = require('../lib/engine'),
+    sys = require('sys'),
+    http = require('http'),
+    fs = require('fs'),
+    util = require('util');
+
+var engine = new Engine({
+    config: __dirname + '/config/dev.json',
+    connection: 'close'
+});
+
+module.exports = {
+    'emtpy response with 200 json': function(test) {
+        var server = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
+            res.writeHead(200, {
+                'Content-Type' : 'application/json',
+                'Content-Length' : 0
+            });
+            res.write(" \r\n\t \r\n\t  \r\n\t")
+            res.end();
+        });
+        server.listen(3000, function() {
+            // Do the test here.
+            var engine = new Engine({
+                connection : 'close'
+            });
+            var script = fs.readFileSync(__dirname + '/mock/empty-json-resp.ql', 'UTF-8');
+
+            engine.exec(script, function(err, result) {
+
+                if (err) {
+                    console.log(err.stack || sys.inspect(err, false, 10));
+                    test.fail('got error');
+                    test.done();
+                }
+                else {
+                    test.equals(result.headers['content-type'], 'application/json', 'json expected');
+                    test.equals(result.body, null, 'null expected');
+                    test.done();
+                }
+                server.close();
+            });
+        });
+    },
+    'emtpy response with error code json': function(test) {
+        var server = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
+            res.writeHead(502, {
+                'Content-Type' : 'application/json',
+                'Content-Length' : 0
+            });
+            res.write(" \r\n\t \r\n\t  \r\n\t")
+            res.end();
+        });
+        server.listen(3000, function() {
+            // Do the test here.
+            var engine = new Engine({
+                connection : 'close'
+            });
+            var script = fs.readFileSync(__dirname + '/mock/empty-json-resp.ql', 'UTF-8');
+
+            engine.exec(script, function(err, result) {
+
+                if (err) {
+                    test.equals(err.headers['content-type'], 'application/json', 'json expected');
+                    test.equals(JSON.stringify(err.body), '{}', 'empty expected');
+                    test.done();
+                }
+                else {
+                    test.fail('failure expected got success');
+                    test.done();
+                }
+                server.close();
+            });
+        });
+    },
+    'emtpy response with 200 xml': function(test) {
+        var server = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
+            res.writeHead(200, {
+                'Content-Type' : 'application/xml',
+                'Content-Length' : 0
+            });
+            res.write(" \r\n\t \r\n\t  \r\n\t")
+            res.end();
+        });
+        server.listen(3000, function() {
+            // Do the test here.
+            var engine = new Engine({
+                connection : 'close'
+            });
+            var script = fs.readFileSync(__dirname + '/mock/empty-json-resp.ql', 'UTF-8');
+
+            engine.exec(script, function(err, result) {
+
+                if (err) {
+                    console.log(err.stack || sys.inspect(err, false, 10));
+                    test.fail('got error');
+                    test.done();
+                }
+                else {
+                    test.equals(result.headers['content-type'], 'application/json', 'json expected');
+                    test.equals(result.body, null, 'null expected');
+                    test.done();
+                }
+                server.close();
+            });
+        });
+    },
+    'emtpy response with error code xml': function(test) {
+        var server = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
+            res.writeHead(502, {
+                'Content-Type' : 'application/xml',
+                'Content-Length' : 0
+            });
+            res.write(" \r\n\t \r\n\t  \r\n\t")
+            res.end();
+        });
+        server.listen(3000, function() {
+            // Do the test here.
+            var engine = new Engine({
+                connection : 'close'
+            });
+            var script = fs.readFileSync(__dirname + '/mock/empty-json-resp.ql', 'UTF-8');
+
+            engine.exec(script, function(err, result) {
+
+                if (err) {
+                    test.equals(err.headers['content-type'], 'application/json', 'json expected');
+                    test.equals(JSON.stringify(err.body), '{}', 'empty expected');
+                    test.done();
+                }
+                else {
+                    test.fail('failure expected got success');
+                    test.done();
+                }
+                server.close();
+            });
+        });
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/modules/engine/test/mock/empty-json-resp.ql b/modules/engine/test/mock/empty-json-resp.ql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b96a4a44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/engine/test/mock/empty-json-resp.ql
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+
+create table items
+  on select get from "http://localhost:3000/FindItemsByKeywordsResponse.xml"
+  resultset 'findItemsByKeywordsResponse';
+
+return select * from items;