diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a49ab451..2341741c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ coverage.xml
 
 # VirtualEnv
 .venv/
+venv/
+
+
 
 # Developers
 *.sw*
@@ -51,3 +54,7 @@ manage.py
 
 # example database
 drf_example
+
+pytest.ini
+
+
diff --git a/example/tests/integration/test_includes.py b/example/tests/integration/test_includes.py
index d32ff7e3..e39d2fec 100644
--- a/example/tests/integration/test_includes.py
+++ b/example/tests/integration/test_includes.py
@@ -36,7 +36,9 @@ def test_missing_field_not_included(author_bio_factory, author_factory, client):
     # First author does not have a bio
     author = author_factory(bio=None)
     response = client.get(reverse("author-detail", args=[author.pk]) + "?include=bio")
-    assert "included" not in response.json()
+    content = response.json()
+    assert "included" in content
+    assert content["included"] == []
     # Second author does
     author = author_factory()
     response = client.get(reverse("author-detail", args=[author.pk]) + "?include=bio")
@@ -204,3 +206,24 @@ def test_meta_object_added_to_included_resources(single_entry, client):
     )
     assert response.json()["included"][0].get("meta")
     assert response.json()["included"][1].get("meta")
+
+
+def test_included_empty_array_when_requested(client, author_factory):
+    author = author_factory(bio=None)  # explicitly ensure no related bio
+    url = reverse("author-detail", args=[author.pk]) + "?include=bio"
+    response = client.get(url)
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+
+    content = response.json()
+    assert "included" in content
+    assert content["included"] == []
+
+
+def test_included_absent_when_not_requested(client, author_factory):
+    # Create an author (bio can be None or default, doesn't matter here)
+    author = author_factory(bio=None)
+    url = reverse("author-detail", args=[author.pk])
+    response = client.get(url)
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    content = response.json()
+    assert "included" not in content
diff --git a/rest_framework_json_api/renderers.py b/rest_framework_json_api/renderers.py
index b670338f..e0047cbb 100644
--- a/rest_framework_json_api/renderers.py
+++ b/rest_framework_json_api/renderers.py
@@ -659,6 +659,10 @@ def render(self, data, accepted_media_type=None, renderer_context=None):
                     render_data["included"].append(
                         included_cache[included_type][included_id]
                     )
+        else:
+            request = renderer_context.get("request")
+            if request and "include" in request.query_params:
+                render_data["included"] = []
 
         if json_api_meta:
             render_data["meta"] = format_field_names(json_api_meta)
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 92606700..6b6385f9 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -20,8 +20,9 @@ exclude =
     build/lib,
     .eggs
     .tox,
-    env
-    .venv
+    env,
+    .venv,
+    venv
 
 [isort]
 multi_line_output = 3
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 8dd0e759..3d8b56a7 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -47,3 +47,6 @@ deps =
     -rrequirements/requirements-documentation.txt
 commands =
     sphinx-build -W -b html -d docs/_build/doctrees docs docs/_build/html
+
+
+