diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.http/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/http/DefaultInboundRequestMapper.java b/org.springframework.integration.http/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/http/DefaultInboundRequestMapper.java
index 9aa06c5417..7b438065b1 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration.http/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/http/DefaultInboundRequestMapper.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.http/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/http/DefaultInboundRequestMapper.java
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ public class DefaultInboundRequestMapper implements InboundRequestMapper {
 		int bufferLength = (contentLength > -1) ? contentLength : 1024;
 		char[] buffer = new char[bufferLength];
 		int charsRead = 0;
-		while ((charsRead = reader.read(buffer, 0, bufferLength)) != -1) {
+		while (reader.ready() && (charsRead = reader.read(buffer, 0, bufferLength)) != -1) {
 			sb.append(buffer, 0, charsRead);
 			buffer = new char[bufferLength];
 		}
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.http/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/http/DefaultInboundRequestMapperTests.java b/org.springframework.integration.http/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/http/DefaultInboundRequestMapperTests.java
index e4e99dd899..3fe184c8ca 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration.http/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/http/DefaultInboundRequestMapperTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.http/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/http/DefaultInboundRequestMapperTests.java
@@ -70,4 +70,15 @@ public class DefaultInboundRequestMapperTests {
 		assertThat(message.getPayload(), is(content));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void emptyStringTest() throws Exception {
+		String content = "";
+		MockHttpServletRequest request = new MockHttpServletRequest();
+		request.setContentType("text");
+		byte[] bytes = content.getBytes();
+		request.setContent(bytes);
+		Message<String> message = (Message<String>) mapper.toMessage(request);
+		assertThat(message.getPayload(), is(content));
+	}
+
 }