diff --git a/src/cryptonote_core/cryptonote_format_utils.cpp b/src/cryptonote_core/cryptonote_format_utils.cpp
index b5f2b069d..e04409d87 100644
--- a/src/cryptonote_core/cryptonote_format_utils.cpp
+++ b/src/cryptonote_core/cryptonote_format_utils.cpp
@@ -371,6 +371,8 @@ namespace cryptonote
   //---------------------------------------------------------------
   bool remove_field_from_tx_extra(std::vector<uint8_t>& tx_extra, const std::type_info &type)
   {
+    if (tx_extra.empty())
+      return true;
     std::string extra_str(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(tx_extra.data()), tx_extra.size());
     std::istringstream iss(extra_str);
     binary_archive<false> ar(iss);