diff --git a/lib/php/src/transport/TPhpStream.php b/lib/php/src/transport/TPhpStream.php
index d4646f1..d1350d7 100644
--- a/lib/php/src/transport/TPhpStream.php
+++ b/lib/php/src/transport/TPhpStream.php
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
 
   public function read($len) {
     $data = @fread($this->inStream_, $len);
-    if (!$data) {
+    if ($data === FALSE || $data === '') {
       throw new TException('TPhpStream: Could not read '.$len.' bytes');
     }
     return $data;