diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b3356eb..1688607 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/)
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 
-## [2.0.4] - 2017-12-14
+## [2.0.4] - 2018-03-XX
 ### Fixed
  - `data` and `files` were wrongly exposed on `Form` class. Changed visibility to private and added `getData` and `getFiles` methods.
+ - Allow non-required file fields
 
 ## [2.0.3] - 2017-12-13
 ### Added
diff --git a/src/Fields/FileField.php b/src/Fields/FileField.php
index 251745b..77ad1a0 100644
--- a/src/Fields/FileField.php
+++ b/src/Fields/FileField.php
@@ -31,10 +31,11 @@ public function __construct(array $args = array())
 
     public function validate($value)
     {
-        if (is_null($value) && !$this->required) {
+        if (0 == $value->size && !$this->required) {
             return;
         }
-        if (is_null($value) && $this->required || 0 == $value->size && $this->required) {
+
+        if (0 == $value->size && $this->required) {
             throw new ValidationError($this->error_messages['required'], 'required');
         }
 
@@ -54,9 +55,6 @@ public function validate($value)
 
     public function toNative($value)
     {
-        if (is_null($value)) {
-            return null;
-        }
         if (!is_array($value)) {
             throw new ValidationError(msg("INVALID_FILE"), 'invalid');
         }
diff --git a/src/Validators/FileTypeValidator.php b/src/Validators/FileTypeValidator.php
index 39183d6..13e4b58 100644
--- a/src/Validators/FileTypeValidator.php
+++ b/src/Validators/FileTypeValidator.php
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ public function __construct(array $valid_filetypes, $message = null)
 
     public function __invoke($value)
     {
-        if (!is_null($this->valid_filetypes) && !in_array($value->type, $this->valid_filetypes)) {
+        if ($value->size > 0 && !is_null($this->valid_filetypes) && !in_array($value->type, $this->valid_filetypes)) {
             $message = msg($this->message, array(
                 "valid_types" => implode(", ", $this->valid_filetypes),
                 "type" => $value->type
diff --git a/tests/unit/Fields/FileFieldTest.php b/tests/unit/Fields/FileFieldTest.php
index 2a5dd5f..caf3308 100644
--- a/tests/unit/Fields/FileFieldTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/Fields/FileFieldTest.php
@@ -22,12 +22,13 @@ public function testConstruct()
 
     /**
      * @expectedException PHPForm\Exceptions\ValidationError
-     * @expectedExceptionMessage The submitted file is empty.
+     * @expectedExceptionMessage This field is required.
      */
     public function testValidateEmpty()
     {
         $data = array('size' => 0);
-        $this->field->validate((object) $data);
+        $field = new FileField(["max_size" => 20, "required" => true]);
+        $field->validate((object) $data);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/unit/Validators/FileTypeValidatorTest.php b/tests/unit/Validators/FileTypeValidatorTest.php
index e4fe483..b410a9a 100644
--- a/tests/unit/Validators/FileTypeValidatorTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/Validators/FileTypeValidatorTest.php
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ class FileTypeValidatorTest extends TestCase
 
     public function setUp()
     {
-        $this->data = (object) array('type' => 'image/png');
+        $this->data = (object) array('size' => 10, 'type' => 'image/png');
     }
 
     public function testValidType()