diff --git a/src/corelib/kernel/qwinregistry.cpp b/src/corelib/kernel/qwinregistry.cpp
index fe0cd62bdd2..dc5252f9d19 100644
--- a/src/corelib/kernel/qwinregistry.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/kernel/qwinregistry.cpp
@@ -38,13 +38,14 @@ void QWinRegistryKey::close()
 
 QVariant QWinRegistryKey::value(QStringView subKey) const
 {
+    // NOTE: Empty value name is allowed in Windows registry, it means the default
+    // or unnamed value of a key, you can read/write/delete such value normally.
+
     if (!isValid())
         return {};
 
-    if (subKey.isEmpty())
-        subKey = u"Default";
-
-    auto subKeyC = reinterpret_cast<const wchar_t *>(subKey.utf16());
+    // Use nullptr when we need to access the default value.
+    const auto subKeyC = subKey.isEmpty() ? nullptr : reinterpret_cast<const wchar_t *>(subKey.utf16());
 
     // Get the size and type of the value.
     DWORD dataType = REG_NONE;
diff --git a/tests/auto/corelib/kernel/qwinregistrykey/tst_qwinregistrykey.cpp b/tests/auto/corelib/kernel/qwinregistrykey/tst_qwinregistrykey.cpp
index 81f75a7beaa..897f638dc91 100644
--- a/tests/auto/corelib/kernel/qwinregistrykey/tst_qwinregistrykey.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/corelib/kernel/qwinregistrykey/tst_qwinregistrykey.cpp
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ static const QPair<QStringView, quint32> TEST_DWORD = qMakePair(u"dword", 123);
 static const QPair<QStringView, quint64> TEST_QWORD = qMakePair(u"qword", 456);
 static const QPair<QStringView, QByteArray> TEST_BINARY = qMakePair(u"binary", "binary\0"_ba);
 static const QPair<QStringView, QVariant> TEST_NOT_EXIST = qMakePair(u"not_exist", QVariant());
-static const QPair<QStringView, QVariant> TEST_DEFAULT = qMakePair(u"Default", u"default"_s);
+static const QPair<QStringView, QVariant> TEST_DEFAULT = qMakePair(u"", u"default"_s);
 
 [[nodiscard]] static inline bool write(const HKEY key, const QStringView name, const QVariant &value)
 {
@@ -216,12 +216,6 @@ void tst_qwinregistrykey::qwinregistrykey()
         QCOMPARE(value.value_or(QString()), TEST_DEFAULT.second);
     }
 
-    {
-        const auto value = registry.value<QString>(L"");
-        QVERIFY(value.has_value());
-        QCOMPARE(value.value_or(QString()), TEST_DEFAULT.second);
-    }
-
     {
         const QString value = registry.stringValue(TEST_STRING.first);
         QVERIFY(!value.isEmpty());