--- a/cbor/cbor.py	2020-07-19 13:24:39.497775767 -0700
+++ b/cbor/cbor.py	2020-07-19 13:24:39.497775767 -0700
@@ -260,6 +260,8 @@
     """
     if data is None:
         raise ValueError("got None for buffer to decode in loads")
+    elif data == b'':
+        raise ValueError("got zero length string loads")
     fp = StringIO(data)
     return _loads(fp)[0]