diff --git a/glib/gbytes.c b/glib/gbytes.c
index a3647caee..1fd3078d9 100644
--- a/glib/gbytes.c
+++ b/glib/gbytes.c
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ g_bytes_new (gconstpointer data,
       GBytesInline *bytes;
 
       bytes = g_malloc (sizeof *bytes + size);
-      bytes->bytes.data = data != NULL ? bytes->inline_data : NULL;
+      bytes->bytes.data = (data != NULL && size > 0) ? bytes->inline_data : NULL;
       bytes->bytes.size = size;
       bytes->bytes.free_func = NULL;
       bytes->bytes.user_data = NULL;
diff --git a/glib/tests/bytes.c b/glib/tests/bytes.c
index 7d432fdee..ac6d4b1d1 100644
--- a/glib/tests/bytes.c
+++ b/glib/tests/bytes.c
@@ -457,6 +457,14 @@ test_null (void)
 
   g_assert_null (data);
   g_assert_cmpuint (size, ==, 0);
+
+  bytes = g_bytes_new ("some data which shouldn't be touched", 0);
+  g_assert_null (g_bytes_get_data (bytes, NULL));
+
+  data = g_bytes_unref_to_data (bytes, &size);
+
+  g_assert_null (data);
+  g_assert_cmpuint (size, ==, 0);
 }
 
 static void