diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index bbc227ca..74ddd77d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+## 2.18.0
+
+* Fix crash when using tile-join to join an empty pmtiles tileset
+
 ## 2.17.0
 
 * Add pmtiles output format
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index cff204b8..104794da 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -329,6 +329,29 @@ join-test: tile-join
 	./tippecanoe-decode -x generator tests/join-population/concat.mbtiles > tests/join-population/concat.mbtiles.json.check
 	cmp tests/join-population/concat.mbtiles.json.check tests/join-population/concat.mbtiles.json
 	rm tests/join-population/concat.mbtiles.json.check tests/join-population/concat.mbtiles tests/join-population/macarthur.mbtiles
+	#`
+	# Make sure empty tilesets work
+	#
+	# mbtiles:
+	./tippecanoe -q -z0 -f -o tests/join-population/empty.mbtiles tests/join-population/empty.json
+	./tile-join -f -o tests/join-population/empty.out.mbtiles tests/join-population/empty.mbtiles
+	./tippecanoe-decode -x generator -x generator_options -x name -x description tests/join-population/empty.mbtiles > tests/join-population/empty.out.json.check
+	cmp tests/join-population/empty.out.json.check tests/join-population/empty.out.json
+	rm -f tests/join-population/empty.mbtiles tests/join-population/empty.out.mbtiles tests/join-population/empty.out.json.check
+	# pmtiles:
+	./tippecanoe -q -z0 -f -o tests/join-population/empty.pmtiles tests/join-population/empty.json
+	./tile-join -f -o tests/join-population/empty.out.pmtiles tests/join-population/empty.pmtiles
+	./tippecanoe-decode -x generator -x generator_options -x name -x description tests/join-population/empty.pmtiles > tests/join-population/empty.out.json.check
+	cmp tests/join-population/empty.out.json.check tests/join-population/empty.out.json
+	rm -f tests/join-population/empty.pmtiles tests/join-population/empty.out.pmtiles tests/join-population/empty.out.json.check
+	# dirtiles:
+	./tippecanoe -q -z0 -f -e tests/join-population/empty.dirtiles tests/join-population/empty.json
+	./tile-join -f -e tests/join-population/empty.out.dirtiles tests/join-population/empty.dirtiles
+	./tippecanoe-decode -x generator -x generator_options -x name -x description tests/join-population/empty.dirtiles > tests/join-population/empty.out.json.check
+	cmp tests/join-population/empty.out.json.check tests/join-population/empty.out.json
+	rm -rf tests/join-population/empty.dirtiles tests/join-population/empty.out.dirtiles tests/join-population/empty.out.json.check
+
+
 
 join-filter-test:
 	# Comes out different from the direct tippecanoe run because null attributes are lost
diff --git a/tests/join-population/empty.json b/tests/join-population/empty.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d52756aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/join-population/empty.json
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+{ "type": "Feature", "properties": { "id": 1 }, "geometry": { "type": "MultiLineString", "coordinates": [ [ [ 417.4513514, -299.1709459 ], [ 415.1435811, -288.1915541 ], [ 421.1577703, -286.2334459 ], [ 431.5077703, -317.4932432 ], [ 471.2293919, -312.2483108 ] ] ] } }
+{ "type": "Feature", "properties": { "id": 2 }, "geometry": { "type": "MultiLineString", "coordinates": [ [ [ 423.6753378, -364.5577703 ], [ 426.3327703, -334.0672297 ], [ 512.3496622, -321.7591216 ], [ 510.2516892, -347.4942568 ] ] ] } }
diff --git a/tests/join-population/empty.out.json b/tests/join-population/empty.out.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7c8bd7bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/join-population/empty.out.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{ "type": "FeatureCollection", "properties": {
+"bounds": "-180.000000,-85.051129,180.000000,-85.051129",
+"center": "0.000000,-85.051129,0",
+"format": "pbf",
+"json": "{\"vector_layers\":[{\"id\":\"empty\",\"description\":\"\",\"minzoom\":0,\"maxzoom\":0,\"fields\":{\"id\":\"Number\"}}],\"tilestats\":{\"layerCount\":1,\"layers\":[{\"layer\":\"empty\",\"count\":2,\"geometry\":\"LineString\",\"attributeCount\":1,\"attributes\":[{\"attribute\":\"id\",\"count\":2,\"type\":\"number\",\"values\":[1,2],\"min\":1,\"max\":2}]}]}}",
+"maxzoom": "0",
+"minzoom": "0",
+"type": "overlay",
+"version": "2"
+}, "features": [
+] }
diff --git a/tile-join.cpp b/tile-join.cpp
index 82eee89d..6ea572b2 100644
--- a/tile-join.cpp
+++ b/tile-join.cpp
@@ -455,9 +455,10 @@ struct reader *begin_reading(char *fname) {
 			r->x = r->pmtiles_entries.back().x;
 			r->y = r->pmtiles_entries.back().y;
 			r->sorty = (1LL << r->zoom) - 1 - r->y;
+
+			r->data = std::string(r->pmtiles_map + r->pmtiles_entries.back().offset, r->pmtiles_entries.back().length);
+			r->pmtiles_entries.pop_back();
 		}
-		r->data = std::string(r->pmtiles_map + r->pmtiles_entries.back().offset, r->pmtiles_entries.back().length);
-		r->pmtiles_entries.pop_back();
 	} else {
 		sqlite3 *db;
 
diff --git a/version.hpp b/version.hpp
index d0c098b7..1aefbd5b 100644
--- a/version.hpp
+++ b/version.hpp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #ifndef VERSION_HPP
 #define VERSION_HPP
 
-#define VERSION "v2.17.0"
+#define VERSION "v2.18.0"
 
 #endif