diff --git a/klamath/basic.py b/klamath/basic.py
index 5ea482e..31110e3 100644
--- a/klamath/basic.py
+++ b/klamath/basic.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def parse_real8(data: bytes) -> numpy.ndarray:
 
 def parse_ascii(data: bytes) -> bytes:
     if len(data) == 0:
-        raise KlamathError(f'Received empty ascii data.')
+        return b''
     if data[-1:] == b'\0':
         return data[:-1]
     return data