diff --git a/addressfield/fields.py b/addressfield/fields.py
index f039b7181e04d5af874dafcb857074ac020eb492..8a7338237e99f2c343143c201819eee139eccd37 100644
--- a/addressfield/fields.py
+++ b/addressfield/fields.py
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ class AddressField(forms.CharField):
 
     def prepare_value(self, value):
         try:
-            return json.loads(value)
+            # Handle empty value with "or".
+            return json.loads(value or {})
         except TypeError:
             return value