diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/HashTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/HashTest.php
index 3b398d0d5df..17b436239f1 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/HashTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/HashTest.php
@@ -928,6 +928,9 @@ public function testExtractUnevenKeys() {
  * @return void
  */
 	public function testSort() {
+		$result = Hash::sort(array(), '{n}.name', 'asc');
+		$this->assertEquals(array(), $result);
+
 		$a = array(
 			0 => array(
 				'Person' => array('name' => 'Jeff'),
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/SetTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/SetTest.php
index a8ccfef3ec8..4dd79f7ab0f 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/SetTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/SetTest.php
@@ -225,6 +225,9 @@ public function testMerge() {
  * @return void
  */
 	public function testSort() {
+		$result = Set::sort(array(), '{n}.name', 'asc');
+		$this->assertEquals(array(), $result);
+
 		$a = array(
 			0 => array('Person' => array('name' => 'Jeff'), 'Friend' => array(array('name' => 'Nate'))),
 			1 => array('Person' => array('name' => 'Tracy'),'Friend' => array(array('name' => 'Lindsay')))
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Utility/Hash.php b/lib/Cake/Utility/Hash.php
index 8f01beb5d74..a3c5cff6b17 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Utility/Hash.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Utility/Hash.php
@@ -730,6 +730,9 @@ public static function apply(array $data, $path, $function) {
  * @link http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/core-utility-libraries/hash.html#Hash::sort
  */
 	public static function sort(array $data, $path, $dir, $type = 'regular') {
+		if (empty($data)) {
+			return array();
+		}
 		$originalKeys = array_keys($data);
 		$numeric = is_numeric(implode('', $originalKeys));
 		if ($numeric) {
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Utility/Set.php b/lib/Cake/Utility/Set.php
index f80dde8ea68..10c937f12ff 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Utility/Set.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Utility/Set.php
@@ -956,6 +956,9 @@ protected static function _flatten($results, $key = null) {
  * @link http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/core-utility-libraries/set.html#Set::sort
  */
 	public static function sort($data, $path, $dir) {
+		if (empty($data)) {
+			return $data;
+		}
 		$originalKeys = array_keys($data);
 		$numeric = false;
 		if (is_numeric(implode('', $originalKeys))) {