diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtils.java
index cbd32fdd816..a1b3466495b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtils.java
@@ -458,6 +458,27 @@ public static boolean[] clone(final boolean[] array) {
 
     // nullToEmpty
     //-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+    /**
+     * <p>Defensive programming technique to change a {@code null}
+     * reference to an empty one.</p>
+     *
+     * <p>This method returns an empty array for a {@code null} input array.</p>
+     *
+     * @param array  the array to check for {@code null} or empty
+     * @param type   the class representation of the desired array
+     * @return the same array, {@code public static} empty array if {@code null}
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the type argument is null
+     */
+    public static <T> T[] nullToEmpty(final T[] array, final Class<T[]> type) {
+        if(type == null) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The Type must not be null");
+        }
+        else if(array == null) {
+            return type.cast(Array.newInstance(type.getComponentType(), 0));
+        }
+        return array;
+    }
+
     /**
      * <p>Defensive programming technique to change a {@code null}
      * reference to an empty one.</p>
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtilsTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtilsTest.java
index 27150aea3f8..b48863c270c 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtilsTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtilsTest.java
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
  */
 package org.apache.commons.lang3;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+import org.junit.Test;
 
 import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
 import java.lang.reflect.Modifier;
@@ -25,7 +25,15 @@
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.Map;
 
-import org.junit.Test;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertArrayEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotSame;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertSame;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
 /**
  * Unit tests {@link org.apache.commons.lang3.ArrayUtils}.
@@ -356,6 +364,37 @@ public void testCloneFloat() {
 
     //-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+    private class TestClass{}
+
+    @Test
+    public void testNullToEmptyGenericNull() {
+        TestClass[] output = ArrayUtils.nullToEmpty(null, TestClass[].class);
+
+        assertTrue(output != null);
+        assertTrue(output.length == 0);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testNullToEmptyGenericEmpty() {
+        TestClass[] input = new TestClass[]{};
+        TestClass[] output = ArrayUtils.nullToEmpty(input, TestClass[].class);
+
+        assertSame(input, output);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testNullToEmptyGeneric() {
+        TestClass[] input = new TestClass[]{new TestClass(), new TestClass()};
+        TestClass[] output = ArrayUtils.nullToEmpty(input, TestClass[].class);
+
+        assertSame(input, output);
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected=IllegalArgumentException.class)
+    public void testNullToEmptyGenericNullType() {
+        TestClass[] input = new TestClass[]{};
+        ArrayUtils.nullToEmpty(input, null);
+    }
 
     @Test
     public void testNullToEmptyBooleanNull() throws Exception {