diff --git a/youtube_dlc/utils.py b/youtube_dlc/utils.py
index f4ee52afb..8f051cd1b 100644
--- a/youtube_dlc/utils.py
+++ b/youtube_dlc/utils.py
@@ -2609,6 +2609,8 @@ class YoutubeDLHandler(compat_urllib_request.HTTPHandler):
 
     @staticmethod
     def deflate(data):
+        if not data:
+            return data
         try:
             return zlib.decompress(data, -zlib.MAX_WBITS)
         except zlib.error: