diff --git a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Session/Memcache.php b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Session/Memcache.php
index 1071c6bcf930b8bc6665c15d4e215e9a3c188337..10d3f12e14ac568678b853a0534e54f8829f36c2 100644
--- a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Session/Memcache.php
+++ b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Session/Memcache.php
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@ class Memcache extends AbstractBase
      */
     public function read($sess_id)
     {
-        return $this->getConnection()->get("vufind_sessions/{$sess_id}");
+        $value = $this->getConnection()->get("vufind_sessions/{$sess_id}");
+        return empty($value) ? '' : $value;
     }
 
     /**