diff --git a/pymongo/cursor.py b/pymongo/cursor.py
index cc3df06bc8..eb1f00aee6 100644
--- a/pymongo/cursor.py
+++ b/pymongo/cursor.py
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ def __init__(self, collection, filter=None, projection=None, skip=0,
         if batch_size < 0:
             raise ValueError("batch_size must be >= 0")
 
-        if projection is not None:
+        if projection not in (None, {}):
             if not projection:
                 projection = {"_id": 1}
             projection = helpers._fields_list_to_dict(projection, "projection")