diff --git a/hiredis.c b/hiredis.c
index 0b0db5227..3aa31645a 100644
--- a/hiredis.c
+++ b/hiredis.c
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ void freeReplyObject(void *reply) {
     case REDIS_REPLY_INTEGER:
         break; /* Nothing to free */
     case REDIS_REPLY_ARRAY:
-        if (r->elements > 0 && r->element != NULL) {
+        if (r->element != NULL) {
             for (j = 0; j < r->elements; j++)
                 if (r->element[j] != NULL)
                     freeReplyObject(r->element[j]);
@@ -133,10 +133,12 @@ static void *createArrayObject(const redisReadTask *task, int elements) {
     if (r == NULL)
         return NULL;
 
-    r->element = calloc(elements,sizeof(redisReply*));
-    if (r->element == NULL) {
-        freeReplyObject(r);
-        return NULL;
+    if (elements > 0) {
+        r->element = calloc(elements,sizeof(redisReply*));
+        if (r->element == NULL) {
+            freeReplyObject(r);
+            return NULL;
+        }
     }
 
     r->elements = elements;
diff --git a/test.c b/test.c
index 6a56f3254..9022f7341 100644
--- a/test.c
+++ b/test.c
@@ -247,6 +247,18 @@ static void test_reply_reader(void) {
     assert(ret == REDIS_ERR);
     ret = redisReaderGetReply(reader,&reply);
     test_cond(ret == REDIS_ERR && reply == NULL);
+    redisReaderFree(reader);
+
+    /* Regression test for issue #45 on GitHub. */
+    test("Don't do empty allocation for empty multi bulk: ");
+    reader = redisReaderCreate();
+    redisReaderFeed(reader,(char*)"*0\r\n",4);
+    ret = redisReaderGetReply(reader,&reply);
+    test_cond(ret == REDIS_OK &&
+        ((redisReply*)reply)->type == REDIS_REPLY_ARRAY &&
+        ((redisReply*)reply)->elements == 0);
+    freeReplyObject(reply);
+    redisReaderFree(reader);
 }
 
 static void *test_create_string(const redisReadTask *task, char *str, size_t len) {