diff --git a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlProcessor.java b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlProcessor.java
index 2a75fa50cde..fb55ab37ccd 100644
--- a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlProcessor.java
+++ b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlProcessor.java
@@ -293,10 +293,14 @@ public abstract class YamlProcessor {
 				// Need a compound key
 				@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 				Collection<Object> collection = (Collection<Object>) value;
-				int count = 0;
-				for (Object object : collection) {
-					buildFlattenedMap(result,
-							Collections.singletonMap("[" + (count++) + "]", object), key);
+				if (collection.isEmpty()) {
+					result.put(key, "");
+				} else {
+					int count = 0;
+					for (Object object : collection) {
+						buildFlattenedMap(result, Collections.singletonMap(
+								"[" + (count++) + "]", object), key);
+					}
 				}
 			}
 			else {
diff --git a/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlMapFactoryBeanTests.java b/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlMapFactoryBeanTests.java
index bbd3c742407..91c0053e682 100644
--- a/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlMapFactoryBeanTests.java
+++ b/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlMapFactoryBeanTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2017 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2018 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package org.springframework.beans.factory.config;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -116,6 +117,20 @@ public class YamlMapFactoryBeanTests {
 		assertEquals(Integer.valueOf(3), sub.get("key1.key2"));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void mapWithEmptyArrayValue() {
+		this.factory.setResources(new ByteArrayResource("a: alpha\ntest: []".getBytes()));
+		assertTrue(this.factory.getObject().containsKey("test"));
+		assertEquals(((List<?>)this.factory.getObject().get("test")).size(), 0);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void mapWithEmptyValue() {
+		this.factory.setResources(new ByteArrayResource("a: alpha\ntest:".getBytes()));
+		assertTrue(this.factory.getObject().containsKey("test"));
+		assertNull(this.factory.getObject().get("test"));
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testDuplicateKey() throws Exception {
 		this.factory.setResources(new ByteArrayResource("mymap:\n  foo: bar\nmymap:\n  bar: foo".getBytes()));
diff --git a/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlPropertiesFactoryBeanTests.java b/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlPropertiesFactoryBeanTests.java
index 6120d965de8..838dcb50b91 100644
--- a/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlPropertiesFactoryBeanTests.java
+++ b/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/YamlPropertiesFactoryBeanTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2017 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2018 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -207,6 +207,15 @@ public class YamlPropertiesFactoryBeanTests {
 		assertThat(properties.getProperty("spam"), equalTo(""));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testLoadEmptyArrayValue() {
+		YamlPropertiesFactoryBean factory = new YamlPropertiesFactoryBean();
+		factory.setResources(new ByteArrayResource("a: alpha\ntest: []".getBytes()));
+		Properties properties = factory.getObject();
+		assertThat(properties.getProperty("a"), equalTo("alpha"));
+		assertThat(properties.getProperty("test"), equalTo(""));
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testLoadArrayOfString() throws Exception {
 		YamlPropertiesFactoryBean factory = new YamlPropertiesFactoryBean();