diff --git a/_test/tests/inc/parser/renderer_xhtml.test.php b/_test/tests/inc/parser/renderer_xhtml.test.php
index 295f04ee79..f7be39a1b7 100644
--- a/_test/tests/inc/parser/renderer_xhtml.test.php
+++ b/_test/tests/inc/parser/renderer_xhtml.test.php
@@ -248,4 +248,26 @@ function test_ulist() {
 ';
         $this->assertEquals($expected, $this->R->doc);
     }
+
+    public function test_blankHeader() {
+        $this->R->header('0', 1, 1);
+        $expected = '<h1 class="sectionedit1" id="section0">0</h1>';
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, trim($this->R->doc));
+    }
+
+    public function test_blankTitleLink() {
+        global $conf;
+        $id = 'blanktest';
+
+        $conf['useheading'] = 1;
+        saveWikiText($id,'====== 0 ======', 'test');
+        $this->assertTrue(page_exists($id));
+
+        $header = p_get_first_heading($id, METADATA_RENDER_UNLIMITED);
+        $this->assertSame('0', $header);
+
+        $this->R->internallink($id);
+        $expected = '<a href="/./doku.php?id='.$id.'" class="wikilink1" title="'.$id.'">0</a>';
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, trim($this->R->doc));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/inc/confutils.php b/inc/confutils.php
index 7a3a99856d..83cc4d34f3 100644
--- a/inc/confutils.php
+++ b/inc/confutils.php
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ function actionOK($action){
  */
 function useHeading($linktype) {
     static $useHeading = null;
+    if(defined('DOKU_UNITTEST')) $useHeading = null; // don't cache during unit tests
 
     if (is_null($useHeading)) {
         global $conf;
diff --git a/inc/parser/xhtml.php b/inc/parser/xhtml.php
index 51316b3bf3..e60d7d38b9 100644
--- a/inc/parser/xhtml.php
+++ b/inc/parser/xhtml.php
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ function toc_additem($id, $text, $level) {
     function header($text, $level, $pos) {
         global $conf;
 
-        if(!$text) return; //skip empty headlines
+        if(blank($text)) return; //skip empty headlines
 
         $hid = $this->_headerToLink($text, true);
 
@@ -1702,7 +1702,7 @@ function _getLinkTitle($title, $default, &$isImage, $id = null, $linktype = 'con
         } elseif(is_null($title) || trim($title) == '') {
             if(useHeading($linktype) && $id) {
                 $heading = p_get_first_heading($id);
-                if($heading) {
+                if(!blank($heading)) {
                     return $this->_xmlEntities($heading);
                 }
             }