diff --git a/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/CookieComponent.php b/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/CookieComponent.php
index a062f565ab2..419d4694580 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/CookieComponent.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/CookieComponent.php
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ protected function _explode($string) {
 		$first = substr($string, 0, 1);
 		if ($first === '{' || $first === '[') {
 			$ret = json_decode($string, true);
-			return ($ret) ? $ret : $string;
+			return ($ret !== null) ? $ret : $string;
 		}
 		$array = array();
 		foreach (explode(',', $string) as $pair) {