diff --git a/src/misc/pem/pem_pkcs.c b/src/misc/pem/pem_pkcs.c
index 252f49be..ebf0b44e 100644
--- a/src/misc/pem/pem_pkcs.c
+++ b/src/misc/pem/pem_pkcs.c
@@ -213,9 +213,10 @@ int pem_decode_pkcs_filehandle(FILE *f, ltc_pka_key *k, const password_ctx *pw_c
 
 int pem_decode_pkcs(const void *buf, unsigned long len, ltc_pka_key *k, const password_ctx *pw_ctx)
 {
-   LTC_ARGCHK(buf != NULL);
-   LTC_ARGCHK(len != 0);
+   LTC_ARGCHK(buf != NULL || len == 0);
    LTC_ARGCHK(k != NULL);
+   if (len == 0)
+      return CRYPT_OK;
    {
       struct get_char g = pem_get_char_init(buf, len);
       return s_decode(&g, k, pw_ctx);
diff --git a/src/misc/pem/pem_ssh.c b/src/misc/pem/pem_ssh.c
index 89dfeb4e..bf4008db 100644
--- a/src/misc/pem/pem_ssh.c
+++ b/src/misc/pem/pem_ssh.c
@@ -541,11 +541,15 @@ static int s_parse_line(char *line, unsigned long *len, ltc_pka_key *key, char *
 static int s_read_authorized_keys(const void *buf, unsigned long len, ssh_authorized_key_cb cb, void *ctx)
 {
    char *s;
-   int err;
+   int err = CRYPT_OK;
    unsigned long clen = len;
-   ltc_pka_key *key = XCALLOC(1, sizeof(*key));
+   ltc_pka_key *key = NULL;
    char *comment = NULL;
-   void *cpy = XMALLOC(len);
+   void *cpy = NULL;
+   if (clen == 0)
+      return CRYPT_OK;
+   key = XCALLOC(1, sizeof(*key));
+   cpy = XMALLOC(len);
    if (key == NULL || cpy == NULL) {
       if (cpy)
          XFREE(cpy);
@@ -835,9 +839,10 @@ int ssh_read_authorized_keys_filehandle(FILE *f, ssh_authorized_key_cb cb, void
 
 int pem_decode_openssh(const void *buf, unsigned long len, ltc_pka_key *k, const password_ctx *pw_ctx)
 {
-   LTC_ARGCHK(buf != NULL);
-   LTC_ARGCHK(len != 0);
+   LTC_ARGCHK(buf != NULL || len == 0);
    LTC_ARGCHK(k != NULL);
+   if (len == 0)
+      return CRYPT_OK;
    {
       struct get_char g = pem_get_char_init(buf, len);
       return s_decode_openssh(&g, k, pw_ctx);
@@ -846,9 +851,10 @@ int pem_decode_openssh(const void *buf, unsigned long len, ltc_pka_key *k, const
 
 int ssh_read_authorized_keys(const void *buf, unsigned long len, ssh_authorized_key_cb cb, void *ctx)
 {
-   LTC_ARGCHK(buf != NULL);
-   LTC_ARGCHK(len != 0);
+   LTC_ARGCHK(buf != NULL || len == 0);
    LTC_ARGCHK(cb != NULL);
+   if (len == 0)
+      return CRYPT_OK;
 
    return s_read_authorized_keys(buf, len, cb, ctx);
 }