diff --git a/document-readers/pdf-reader/src/main/java/org/springframework/ai/reader/pdf/layout/CharacterFactory.java b/document-readers/pdf-reader/src/main/java/org/springframework/ai/reader/pdf/layout/CharacterFactory.java
index b3e491d13..6eae80a7e 100644
--- a/document-readers/pdf-reader/src/main/java/org/springframework/ai/reader/pdf/layout/CharacterFactory.java
+++ b/document-readers/pdf-reader/src/main/java/org/springframework/ai/reader/pdf/layout/CharacterFactory.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2023-2024 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2023-2025 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.
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ class CharacterFactory {
 
 	private char getCharacterFromTextPosition(final TextPosition textPosition) {
 		String string = textPosition.getUnicode();
-		char character = string.charAt(0);
+		char character = !string.isEmpty() ? string.charAt(0) : '\0';
 		return character;
 	}
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 29a12653a..b403eb5ef 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@
 		<protobuf-java.version>3.25.2</protobuf-java.version>
 
 		<!-- readers/writer/stores dependencies-->
-		<pdfbox.version>3.0.3</pdfbox.version>
+		<pdfbox.version>3.0.4</pdfbox.version>
 		<pgvector.version>0.1.6</pgvector.version>
 		<sap.hanadb.version>2.20.11</sap.hanadb.version>
 		<coherence.version>24.09</coherence.version>