diff --git a/lib/deserializer.js b/lib/deserializer.js
index 1cb7c1a..a117ff3 100644
--- a/lib/deserializer.js
+++ b/lib/deserializer.js
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ module.exports = function (opts) {
     }
 
     function resource() {
+      if (!jsonapi.data) { jsonapi.data = {}; }
+
       return new DeserializerUtils(jsonapi, jsonapi.data, opts)
         .perform()
         .then(function (result) {
diff --git a/test/deserializer.js b/test/deserializer.js
index bd5ae42..0baab6c 100644
--- a/test/deserializer.js
+++ b/test/deserializer.js
@@ -1638,4 +1638,22 @@ describe('JSON API Deserializer', function () {
 
     });
   });
+
+  describe('when data is null', function () {
+    it('should return an empty object', function (done) {
+      var dataSet = {
+        data: null,
+          jsonapi: {
+          version: '1.0'
+        }
+      };
+
+      new JSONAPIDeserializer()
+        .deserialize(dataSet, function (err, json) {
+          expect(json).to.be.eql({});
+
+          done(null, json);
+        });
+    });
+  });
 });