diff --git a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/ReadOnlySharedStringsTable.java b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/ReadOnlySharedStringsTable.java
index 5263473bc..24e2c649d 100644
--- a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/ReadOnlySharedStringsTable.java
+++ b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/ReadOnlySharedStringsTable.java
@@ -132,13 +132,15 @@ public class ReadOnlySharedStringsTable extends DefaultHandler {
      * @throws ParserConfigurationException
      */
     public void readFrom(InputStream is) throws IOException, SAXException {
-        InputSource sheetSource = new InputSource(is);
-        try {
-           XMLReader sheetParser = SAXHelper.newXMLReader();
-           sheetParser.setContentHandler(this);
-           sheetParser.parse(sheetSource);
-        } catch(ParserConfigurationException e) {
-           throw new RuntimeException("SAX parser appears to be broken - " + e.getMessage());
+        if (is.available() > 0) {
+            InputSource sheetSource = new InputSource(is);
+            try {
+                XMLReader sheetParser = SAXHelper.newXMLReader();
+                sheetParser.setContentHandler(this);
+                sheetParser.parse(sheetSource);
+            } catch(ParserConfigurationException e) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("SAX parser appears to be broken - " + e.getMessage());
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/TestReadOnlySharedStringsTable.java b/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/TestReadOnlySharedStringsTable.java
index c4690369b..ad8470bab 100644
--- a/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/TestReadOnlySharedStringsTable.java
+++ b/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/TestReadOnlySharedStringsTable.java
@@ -20,12 +20,16 @@
 package org.apache.poi.xssf.eventusermodel;
 
 import junit.framework.TestCase;
+
 import org.apache.poi.POIDataSamples;
 import org.apache.poi.openxml4j.opc.OPCPackage;
 import org.apache.poi.openxml4j.opc.PackagePart;
 import org.apache.poi.xssf.model.SharedStringsTable;
+import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFWorkbook;
 import org.openxmlformats.schemas.spreadsheetml.x2006.main.CTRst;
+import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
@@ -55,4 +59,24 @@ public final class TestReadOnlySharedStringsTable extends TestCase {
         }
 
 	}
+    
+    public void testEmptySSTOnPackageObtainedViaWorkbook() throws Exception {
+        XSSFWorkbook wb = new XSSFWorkbook(_ssTests.openResourceAsStream("noSharedStringTable.xlsx"));
+        OPCPackage pkg = wb.getPackage();
+        assertEmptySST(pkg);
+        wb.close();
+    }
+    
+    public void testEmptySSTOnPackageDirect() throws Exception {
+        OPCPackage pkg = OPCPackage.open(_ssTests.openResourceAsStream("noSharedStringTable.xlsx"));
+        assertEmptySST(pkg);
+    }
+
+    private void assertEmptySST(OPCPackage pkg) throws IOException, SAXException {
+        ReadOnlySharedStringsTable sst = new ReadOnlySharedStringsTable(pkg);
+        assertEquals(0, sst.getCount());
+        assertEquals(0, sst.getUniqueCount());
+        assertNull(sst.getItems()); // same state it's left in if fed a package which has no SST part.
+    }
+    
 }
diff --git a/test-data/spreadsheet/noSharedStringTable.xlsx b/test-data/spreadsheet/noSharedStringTable.xlsx
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..49f14658d
Binary files /dev/null and b/test-data/spreadsheet/noSharedStringTable.xlsx differ