diff --git a/client/mysql.cc b/client/mysql.cc
index 94b43d030e8..bd97ffd4947 100644
--- a/client/mysql.cc
+++ b/client/mysql.cc
@@ -2270,10 +2270,8 @@ print_table_data(MYSQL_RES *result)
   MYSQL_ROW	cur;
   MYSQL_FIELD	*field;
   bool		*num_flag;
-  bool		*not_null_flag;
 
   num_flag=(bool*) my_alloca(sizeof(bool)*mysql_num_fields(result));
-  not_null_flag=(bool*) my_alloca(sizeof(bool)*mysql_num_fields(result));
   if (info_flag)
   {
     print_field_types(result);
@@ -2307,7 +2305,6 @@ print_table_data(MYSQL_RES *result)
                                             MAX_COLUMN_LENGTH),
 		  field->name);
       num_flag[off]= IS_NUM(field->type);
-      not_null_flag[off]= IS_NOT_NULL(field->flags);
     }
     (void) tee_fputs("\n", PAGER);
     tee_puts((char*) separator.ptr(), PAGER);
@@ -2328,7 +2325,7 @@ print_table_data(MYSQL_RES *result)
       uint extra_padding;
 
       /* If this column may have a null value, use "NULL" for empty.  */
-      if (! not_null_flag[off] && (cur[off] == NULL))
+      if (cur[off] == NULL)
       {
         buffer= "NULL";
         data_length= 4;
@@ -2368,7 +2365,6 @@ print_table_data(MYSQL_RES *result)
   }
   tee_puts((char*) separator.ptr(), PAGER);
   my_afree((gptr) num_flag);
-  my_afree((gptr) not_null_flag);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/mysql-test/r/mysql.result b/mysql-test/r/mysql.result
index d70366a7589..44e8da17eaa 100644
--- a/mysql-test/r/mysql.result
+++ b/mysql-test/r/mysql.result
@@ -85,6 +85,12 @@ c_cp932
 | NULL | NULL | Τη γλώσσα                 | 
 | NULL | NULL | ᛖᚴ ᚷᛖᛏ                    | 
 +------+------+---------------------------+
+i	j	k
+NULL	1	NULL
+Field	Type	Null	Key	Default	Extra
+i	int(11)	YES		NULL	
+j	int(11)	NO			
+k	int(11)	YES		NULL	
 +------+---+------+
 | i    | j | k    |
 +------+---+------+
@@ -97,6 +103,10 @@ c_cp932
 | j     | int(11) | NO   |     |         |       | 
 | k     | int(11) | YES  |     | NULL    |       | 
 +-------+---------+------+-----+---------+-------+
+i	s1
+1	x
+2	NULL
+3	
 +------+------+
 | i    | s1   |
 +------+------+
@@ -104,4 +114,11 @@ c_cp932
 |    2 | NULL | 
 |    3 |      | 
 +------+------+
+unhex('zz')
+NULL
++-------------+
+| unhex('zz') |
++-------------+
+| NULL        | 
++-------------+
 End of 5.0 tests
diff --git a/mysql-test/t/mysql.test b/mysql-test/t/mysql.test
index 98fadcfc75d..7cc92574b76 100644
--- a/mysql-test/t/mysql.test
+++ b/mysql-test/t/mysql.test
@@ -70,13 +70,21 @@ drop table t1;
 #
 # "DESCRIBE" commands may return strange NULLness flags.
 #
+--exec $MYSQL --default-character-set utf8 test -e "create table t1 (i int, j int not null, k int); insert into t1 values (null, 1, null); select * from t1; describe t1; drop table t1;"
 --exec $MYSQL -t --default-character-set utf8 test -e "create table t1 (i int, j int not null, k int); insert into t1 values (null, 1, null); select * from t1; describe t1; drop table t1;"
 
 #
 # Bug#19564: mysql displays NULL instead of space
 #
+--exec $MYSQL test -e "create table b19564 (i int, s1 char(1)); insert into b19564 values (1, 'x'); insert into b19564 values (2, NULL); insert into b19564 values (3, ' '); select * from b19564 order by i; drop table b19564;" 
 --exec $MYSQL -t test -e "create table b19564 (i int, s1 char(1)); insert into b19564 values (1, 'x'); insert into b19564 values (2, NULL); insert into b19564 values (3, ' '); select * from b19564 order by i; drop table b19564;" 
 
+#
+# Bug#21618: NULL shown as empty string in client
+#
+--exec $MYSQL test -e "select unhex('zz');" 
+--exec $MYSQL -t test -e "select unhex('zz');" 
+
 --echo End of 5.0 tests