diff --git a/contrib/pg_stash_advice/stashpersist.c b/contrib/pg_stash_advice/stashpersist.c
index ccdd13872b5..2b23ba969f5 100644
--- a/contrib/pg_stash_advice/stashpersist.c
+++ b/contrib/pg_stash_advice/stashpersist.c
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ pgsa_read_from_disk(void)
 								PGSA_DUMP_FILE, lineno)));
 
 			/* No further fields are expected. */
-			if (*cursor != '\0')
+			if (cursor != NULL)
 				ereport(ERROR,
 						(errcode(ERRCODE_DATA_CORRUPTED),
 						 errmsg("syntax error in file \"%s\" line %u: expected end of line",
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ pgsa_read_from_disk(void)
 								PGSA_DUMP_FILE, lineno)));
 
 			/* No further fields are expected. */
-			if (*cursor != '\0')
+			if (cursor != NULL)
 				ereport(ERROR,
 						(errcode(ERRCODE_DATA_CORRUPTED),
 						 errmsg("syntax error in file \"%s\" line %u: expected end of line",
@@ -603,25 +603,34 @@ pgsa_append_tsv_escaped_string(StringInfo buf, const char *str)
 /*
  * Extract the next tab-delimited field from *cursor.
  *
- * The tab delimiter is replaced with '\0' and *cursor is advanced past it.
- * If *cursor already points to '\0' (no more fields), returns NULL.
+ * Returns a pointer to the field data; when there are no remaining fields,
+ * returns NULL. For fields other than the last, the tab that terminates the
+ * field is replaced by \0, so that the caller can always interpret the return
+ * value as a C string.
+ *
+ * When this function is first called for a given line of text, *cursor should
+ * point to the beginning of the line. On return, *cursor will have been
+ * advanced past the tab that terminates the current field, or set to NULL if
+ * we just returned the last field.
  */
 static char *
 pgsa_next_tsv_field(char **cursor)
 {
 	char	   *start = *cursor;
-	char	   *p = start;
+	char	   *p;
 
-	if (*p == '\0')
+	if (start == NULL)
 		return NULL;
 
-	while (*p != '\0' && *p != '\t')
-		p++;
+	p = strchr(start, '\t');
+	if (p != NULL)
+	{
+		*p = '\0';
+		*cursor = p + 1;
+	}
+	else
+		*cursor = NULL;
 
-	if (*p == '\t')
-		*p++ = '\0';
-
-	*cursor = p;
 	return start;
 }
 
diff --git a/contrib/pg_stash_advice/t/001_persist.pl b/contrib/pg_stash_advice/t/001_persist.pl
index 83e98889f93..89347fb35bf 100644
--- a/contrib/pg_stash_advice/t/001_persist.pl
+++ b/contrib/pg_stash_advice/t/001_persist.pl
@@ -20,12 +20,13 @@ $node->start;
 
 $node->safe_psql("postgres", "CREATE EXTENSION pg_stash_advice;\n");
 
-# Create two stashes: one with 2 entries, one with 1 entry.
+# Create two stashes: one with 3 entries, one with just 1 entry.
 $node->safe_psql(
 	"postgres", qq{
 	SELECT pg_create_advice_stash('stash_a');
 	SELECT pg_set_stashed_advice('stash_a', 1001, 'IndexScan(t)');
 	SELECT pg_set_stashed_advice('stash_a', 1002, E'line1\\nline2\\ttab\\\\backslash');
+	SELECT pg_set_stashed_advice('stash_a', 1003, '');
 	SELECT pg_create_advice_stash('stash_b');
 	SELECT pg_set_stashed_advice('stash_b', 2001, 'SeqScan(t)');
 });
@@ -34,23 +35,24 @@ $node->safe_psql(
 my $result = $node->safe_psql("postgres",
 	"SELECT stash_name, num_entries FROM pg_get_advice_stashes() ORDER BY stash_name"
 );
-is($result, "stash_a|2\nstash_b|1", 'stashes present before restart');
+is($result, "stash_a|3\nstash_b|1", 'stashes present before restart');
 
 # Restart and verify the data survived.
 $node->restart;
-$node->wait_for_log("loaded 2 advice stashes and 3 entries");
+$node->wait_for_log("loaded 2 advice stashes and 4 entries");
 
 $result = $node->safe_psql("postgres",
 	"SELECT stash_name, num_entries FROM pg_get_advice_stashes() ORDER BY stash_name"
 );
-is($result, "stash_a|2\nstash_b|1", 'stashes survived restart');
+is($result, "stash_a|3\nstash_b|1", 'stashes survived restart');
 
-# Verify entry contents, including the one with special characters.
+# Verify entry contents, including the one with special characters and the
+# one with an empty advice string.
 $result = $node->safe_psql("postgres",
 	"SELECT stash_name, query_id, advice_string FROM pg_get_advice_stash_contents(NULL) ORDER BY stash_name, query_id"
 );
 is( $result,
-	"stash_a|1001|IndexScan(t)\nstash_a|1002|line1\nline2\ttab\\backslash\nstash_b|2001|SeqScan(t)",
+	"stash_a|1001|IndexScan(t)\nstash_a|1002|line1\nline2\ttab\\backslash\nstash_a|1003|\nstash_b|2001|SeqScan(t)",
 	'entry contents survived restart with special characters intact');
 
 # Add a third stash with 0 entries.
@@ -61,13 +63,13 @@ $node->safe_psql(
 
 # Restart again and verify all three stashes are present.
 $node->restart;
-$node->wait_for_log("loaded 3 advice stashes and 3 entries");
+$node->wait_for_log("loaded 3 advice stashes and 4 entries");
 
 $result = $node->safe_psql("postgres",
 	"SELECT stash_name, num_entries FROM pg_get_advice_stashes() ORDER BY stash_name"
 );
 is( $result,
-	"stash_a|2\nstash_b|1\nstash_c|0",
+	"stash_a|3\nstash_b|1\nstash_c|0",
 	'all three stashes survived second restart');
 
 # Drop all stashes and verify the dump file is removed after restart.