diff --git a/src/Composer/Json/JsonManipulator.php b/src/Composer/Json/JsonManipulator.php
index fd37f681d..c8b662623 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Json/JsonManipulator.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Json/JsonManipulator.php
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class JsonManipulator
             throw new \InvalidArgumentException('The json file must be an object ({})');
         }
         $this->newline = false !== strpos("\r\n", $contents) ? "\r\n": "\n";
-        $this->contents = $contents;
+        $this->contents = $contents === '{}' ? '{' . $this->newline . '}' : $contents;
         $this->detectIndenting();
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Json/JsonManipulatorTest.php b/tests/Composer/Test/Json/JsonManipulatorTest.php
index 8679a7508..4f3b1dd54 100644
--- a/tests/Composer/Test/Json/JsonManipulatorTest.php
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Json/JsonManipulatorTest.php
@@ -30,8 +30,7 @@ class JsonManipulatorTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
     {
         return array(
             array(
-                '{
-}',
+                '{}',
                 'require',
                 'vendor/baz',
                 'qux',