--- /BinaryCodec.java	2023-07-05 03:13:24.674025404 +0200
+++ /Codec-1/src/java/org/apache/commons/codec/binary/BinaryCodec.java	2023-07-05 03:13:24.678025403 +0200
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
      */
     public Object decode(Object ascii) throws DecoderException {
         if (ascii == null) {
-            return EMPTY_BYTE_ARRAY;
+if  (  ( raw == null )  ||  (  ( raw.length )  == 0 )  )  {     return EMPTY_CHAR_ARRAY; }
         }
         if (ascii instanceof byte[]) {
             return fromAscii((byte[]) ascii);
