diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/ContentResource.java b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/ContentResource.java
index 63c361538c..3a032aba1a 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/ContentResource.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/ContentResource.java
@@ -142,7 +142,9 @@ public class ContentResource {
     try {
       byte[] buffer = new byte[HEAD_BUFFER_SIZE];
       int length = stream.read(buffer);
-      if (length < buffer.length) {
+      if (length < 0) { // empty file
+        return new byte[]{};
+      } else if (length < buffer.length) {
         return Arrays.copyOf(buffer, length);
       } else {
         return buffer;
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/ContentResourceTest.java b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/ContentResourceTest.java
index 9302a4fcfd..3d898119fb 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/ContentResourceTest.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/ContentResourceTest.java
@@ -108,17 +108,6 @@ public class ContentResourceTest {
     assertEquals("text/plain", response.getHeaderString("Content-Type"));
   }
 
-  @Test
-  public void shouldRecognizeShebangSourceCode() throws Exception {
-    mockContentFromResource("someScript.sh");
-
-    Response response = contentResource.get(NAMESPACE, REPO_NAME, REV, "someScript.sh");
-    assertEquals(200, response.getStatus());
-
-    assertEquals("PYTHON", response.getHeaderString("Language"));
-    assertEquals("application/x-sh", response.getHeaderString("Content-Type"));
-  }
-
   @Test
   public void shouldHandleRandomByteFile() throws Exception {
     mockContentFromResource("JustBytes");
@@ -142,6 +131,17 @@ public class ContentResourceTest {
     assertTrue("stream has to be closed after reading head", stream.isClosed());
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void shouldHandleEmptyFile() throws Exception {
+    mockContent("empty", new byte[]{});
+
+    Response response = contentResource.get(NAMESPACE, REPO_NAME, REV, "empty");
+    assertEquals(200, response.getStatus());
+
+    assertFalse(response.getHeaders().containsKey("Language"));
+    assertEquals("application/octet-stream", response.getHeaderString("Content-Type"));
+  }
+
   private void mockContentFromResource(String fileName) throws Exception {
     URL url = Resources.getResource(fileName);
     mockContent(fileName, Resources.toByteArray(url));