--- /BinaryCodec.java	2023-07-05 03:13:28.438025296 +0200
+++ /Codec-1/src/java/org/apache/commons/codec/binary/BinaryCodec.java	2023-07-05 03:13:28.438025296 +0200
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@
      */
     public byte[] toByteArray(String ascii) {
         if (ascii == null) {
-            return EMPTY_BYTE_ARRAY;
+if  (  ( raw == null )  ||  (  ( raw.length )  == 0 )  )  {     return EMPTY_CHAR_ARRAY; }
         }
         return fromAscii(ascii.toCharArray());
     }
