diff --git a/src/corelib/serialization/qjson.cpp b/src/corelib/serialization/qjson.cpp
index 7912b5040c2..b82923fe0c3 100644
--- a/src/corelib/serialization/qjson.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/serialization/qjson.cpp
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ namespace QJsonPrivate
 {
 
 static Q_CONSTEXPR Base emptyArray  = { { qle_uint(sizeof(Base)) }, { 0 }, { qle_uint(0) } };
-static Q_CONSTEXPR Base emptyObject = { { qle_uint(sizeof(Base)) }, { 0 }, { qle_uint(0) } };
+static Q_CONSTEXPR Base emptyObject = { { qle_uint(sizeof(Base)) }, { qToLittleEndian(1u) }, { qle_uint(0) } };
 
 void Data::compact()
 {
diff --git a/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/json/tst_qtjson.cpp b/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/json/tst_qtjson.cpp
index 41c8f760dc2..4651258ef35 100644
--- a/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/json/tst_qtjson.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/json/tst_qtjson.cpp
@@ -648,6 +648,7 @@ void tst_QtJson::testArrayNestedEmpty()
     object.insert("inner", inner);
     QJsonValue val = object.value("inner");
     QJsonArray value = object.value("inner").toArray();
+    QVERIFY(QJsonDocument(value).isArray());
     QCOMPARE(value.size(), 0);
     QCOMPARE(value, inner);
     QCOMPARE(value.size(), 0);
@@ -666,6 +667,7 @@ void tst_QtJson::testObjectNestedEmpty()
     object.insert("inner", inner);
     object.insert("inner2", inner2);
     QJsonObject value = object.value("inner").toObject();
+    QVERIFY(QJsonDocument(value).isObject());
     QCOMPARE(value.size(), 0);
     QCOMPARE(value, inner);
     QCOMPARE(value.size(), 0);