diff --git a/bootstat/bootstat.cpp b/bootstat/bootstat.cpp
index 1954966..ac66b7f 100644
--- a/bootstat/bootstat.cpp
+++ b/bootstat/bootstat.cpp
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@
   property_set(key, val);
 }
 
+constexpr int32_t kEmptyBootReason = 0;
 constexpr int32_t kUnknownBootReason = 1;
 
 // A mapping from boot reason string, as read from the ro.boot.bootreason
@@ -136,6 +137,7 @@
 // the boot_reason metric may refer to this mapping to discern the histogram
 // values.
 const std::map<std::string, int32_t> kBootReasonMap = {
+    {"empty", kEmptyBootReason},
     {"unknown", kUnknownBootReason},
     {"normal", 2},
     {"recovery", 3},
@@ -216,6 +218,10 @@
     return mapping->second;
   }
 
+  if (boot_reason.empty()) {
+    return kEmptyBootReason;
+  }
+
   LOG(INFO) << "Unknown boot reason: " << boot_reason;
   return kUnknownBootReason;
 }
@@ -747,8 +753,16 @@
 // property.
 void RecordBootReason() {
   const std::string reason(GetProperty(bootloader_reboot_reason_property));
-  android::metricslogger::LogMultiAction(android::metricslogger::ACTION_BOOT,
-                                         android::metricslogger::FIELD_PLATFORM_REASON, reason);
+
+  if (reason.empty()) {
+    // Log an empty boot reason value as '<EMPTY>' to ensure the value is intentional
+    // (and not corruption anywhere else in the reporting pipeline).
+    android::metricslogger::LogMultiAction(android::metricslogger::ACTION_BOOT,
+                                           android::metricslogger::FIELD_PLATFORM_REASON, "<EMPTY>");
+  } else {
+    android::metricslogger::LogMultiAction(android::metricslogger::ACTION_BOOT,
+                                           android::metricslogger::FIELD_PLATFORM_REASON, reason);
+  }
 
   // Log the raw bootloader_boot_reason property value.
   int32_t boot_reason = BootReasonStrToEnum(reason);