diff --git a/Library/PTPusherEvent.m b/Library/PTPusherEvent.m
index e10ba80d..693680f2 100644
--- a/Library/PTPusherEvent.m
+++ b/Library/PTPusherEvent.m
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ - (id)initWithEventName:(NSString *)name channel:(NSString *)channel data:(id)da
     _timeReceived = [NSDate date];
     
     // try and deserialize the data as JSON if possible
-    if ([data respondsToSelector:@selector(dataUsingEncoding:)]) {
+      if ([data respondsToSelector:@selector(dataUsingEncoding:)]  &&
+          !([data isKindOfClass:[NSString class]] && [data isEqualToString:@""]) ) {
       _data = [[[PTJSON JSONParser] objectFromJSONString:data] copy];
 
       if (_data == nil) {