diff --git a/django/db/models/fields/related.py b/django/db/models/fields/related.py
index 804dda5817..bea88ba337 100644
--- a/django/db/models/fields/related.py
+++ b/django/db/models/fields/related.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from operator import attrgetter
 
-from django.db import connection, router
+from django.db import connection, connections, router
 from django.db.backends import util
 from django.db.models import signals, get_model
 from django.db.models.fields import (AutoField, Field, IntegerField,
@@ -496,7 +496,8 @@ class ForeignRelatedObjectsDescriptor(object):
                 except (AttributeError, KeyError):
                     db = self._db or router.db_for_read(self.model, instance=self.instance)
                     qs = super(RelatedManager, self).get_query_set().using(db).filter(**self.core_filters)
-                    if getattr(self.instance, attname) is None:
+                    val = getattr(self.instance, attname)
+                    if val is None or val == '' and connections[db].features.interprets_empty_strings_as_nulls:
                         return qs.none()
                     qs._known_related_objects = {rel_field: {self.instance.pk: self.instance}}
                     return qs
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/many_to_one_regress/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/many_to_one_regress/tests.py
index e140577a49..a9969a7e90 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/many_to_one_regress/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/many_to_one_regress/tests.py
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ class ManyToOneRegressionTests(TestCase):
         # Now the model is saved, so we will need to execute an query.
         with self.assertNumQueries(1):
             self.assertEqual(th.child_set.count(), 0)
-    
+
     def test_related_null_to_field(self):
         c1 = Car.objects.create()
         c2 = Car.objects.create()