diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/data_smart.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/data_smart.py
index 46a0221e10..707029de93 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/data_smart.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/data_smart.py
@@ -615,7 +615,7 @@ class DataSmart(MutableMapping):
             else:
                 cachename = var + "[" + flag + "]"
             value = self.expand(value, cachename)
-        if value is not None and flag == "_content" and local_var is not None and "_removeactive" in local_var:
+        if value and flag == "_content" and local_var is not None and "_removeactive" in local_var:
             filtered = filter(lambda v: v not in local_var["_removeactive"],
                               value.split(" "))
             value = " ".join(filtered)
diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/tests/data.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/tests/data.py
index ee66b22e25..228f72c1f5 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/tests/data.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/tests/data.py
@@ -253,6 +253,11 @@ class TestConcatOverride(unittest.TestCase):
         bb.data.update_data(self.d)
         self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST_TEST", True), "bar bar")
 
+    def test_empty_remove(self):
+        self.d.setVar("TEST", "")
+        self.d.setVar("TEST_remove", "val")
+        bb.data.update_data(self.d)
+        self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST", True), "")
 
 class TestOverrides(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):