diff --git a/include/configreader.h b/include/configreader.h
index c8fc97d06..d053d16d0 100644
--- a/include/configreader.h
+++ b/include/configreader.h
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ public:
 	/** Get the value of an option, using def if it does not exist */
 	bool getBool(const std::string& key, bool def = false) const;
 	/** Get the value of an option, using def if it does not exist */
-	unsigned char getCharacter(const std::string& key, unsigned char def = '\0') const;
+	unsigned char getCharacter(const std::string& key, unsigned char def = '\0', bool emptynul = false) const;
 
 	/** Get the value in seconds of a duration that is in the user-friendly "1h2m3s" format,
 	 * using a default value if it does not exist or is out of bounds.
diff --git a/src/configparser.cpp b/src/configparser.cpp
index 8cdd1f7f5..457840b71 100644
--- a/src/configparser.cpp
+++ b/src/configparser.cpp
@@ -732,12 +732,15 @@ bool ConfigTag::getBool(const std::string& key, bool def) const
 	return def;
 }
 
-unsigned char ConfigTag::getCharacter(const std::string& key, unsigned char def) const
+unsigned char ConfigTag::getCharacter(const std::string& key, unsigned char def, bool emptynul) const
 {
 	std::string result;
-	if (!readString(key, result) || result.size() != 1)
+	if (!readString(key, result))
 		return def;
 
+	if (result.size() != 1)
+		return result.empty() && emptynul ? 0 : def;
+
 	return result[0];
 }