diff --git a/lib/message.cc b/lib/message.cc
index bbfc2500..38bc9291 100644
--- a/lib/message.cc
+++ b/lib/message.cc
@@ -896,6 +896,9 @@ notmuch_message_get_date (notmuch_message_t *message)
 	return 0;
     }
 
+    if (value.empty ())
+	/* sortable_unserialise is undefined on empty string */
+	return 0;
     return Xapian::sortable_unserialise (value);
 }