diff --git a/src/Data/Byte.php b/src/Data/Byte.php
index 74d799975..9aa850b5c 100644
--- a/src/Data/Byte.php
+++ b/src/Data/Byte.php
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ final class Byte extends QRDataModeAbstract{
 	 * @inheritDoc
 	 */
 	public static function validateString(string $string):bool{
-		return !empty($string);
+		return $string !== '';
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/tests/Data/ByteTest.php b/tests/Data/ByteTest.php
index 58454fe87..3b3c02cea 100644
--- a/tests/Data/ByteTest.php
+++ b/tests/Data/ByteTest.php
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ final class ByteTest extends DatainterfaceTestAbstract{
 		return [
 			["\x01\x02\x03", true],
 			['            ', true], // not empty!
+			['0', true], // should survive !empty()
 			['', false],
 		];
 	}