diff --git a/util/romcc/romcc.c b/util/romcc/romcc.c
index bf0510a49f..b9ec835f6f 100644
--- a/util/romcc/romcc.c
+++ b/util/romcc/romcc.c
@@ -10782,6 +10782,15 @@ static struct triple *string_constant(struct compile_state *state)
 		} while(str < end);
 		type->elements = ptr - buf;
 	} while(peek(state) == TOK_LIT_STRING);
+
+	/* buf contains the allocated buffer for the string constant. However,
+	   if buf is NULL, then the string constant is empty, but we still
+	   need to allocate one byte for the null character. */
+	if (buf == NULL) {
+		buf = xmalloc(1, "string_constant");
+		ptr = buf;
+	}
+
 	*ptr = '\0';
 	type->elements += 1;
 	def = triple(state, OP_BLOBCONST, type, 0, 0);
diff --git a/util/romcc/tests/simple_test87.c b/util/romcc/tests/simple_test87.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6a1148c46a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/romcc/tests/simple_test87.c
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+static void main(void)
+{
+	char *x = "";
+}