diff --git a/src/jv.c b/src/jv.c
index dfb24fa3..e4529a47 100644
--- a/src/jv.c
+++ b/src/jv.c
@@ -1148,6 +1148,7 @@ static jv jvp_string_empty_new(uint32_t length) {
   jvp_string* s = jvp_string_alloc(length);
   s->length_hashed = 0;
   memset(s->data, 0, length);
+  s->data[length] = 0;
   jv r = {JVP_FLAGS_STRING, 0, 0, 0, {&s->refcnt}};
   return r;
 }
diff --git a/tests/jq.test b/tests/jq.test
index 17232418..7e04c166 100644
--- a/tests/jq.test
+++ b/tests/jq.test
@@ -2362,6 +2362,10 @@ map(try implode catch .)
 [123,["a"],[nan]]
 ["implode input must be an array","string (\"a\") can't be imploded, unicode codepoint needs to be numeric","number (null) can't be imploded, unicode codepoint needs to be numeric"]
 
+try 0[implode] catch .
+[]
+"Cannot index number with string \"\""
+
 # walk
 walk(.)
 {"x":0}