diff --git a/src/sparsevec.c b/src/sparsevec.c
index ac7e792..1844956 100644
--- a/src/sparsevec.c
+++ b/src/sparsevec.c
@@ -213,6 +213,10 @@ sparsevec_in(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 				 errdetail("Vector contents must start with \"{\".")));
 
 	str++;
+
+	while (sparsevec_isspace(*str))
+		str++;
+
 	pt = strtok(str, ",");
 	stringEnd = pt;
 
diff --git a/test/expected/sparsevec_input.out b/test/expected/sparsevec_input.out
index 0592e26..64f48cd 100644
--- a/test/expected/sparsevec_input.out
+++ b/test/expected/sparsevec_input.out
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@ SELECT ' { 1 : 1.5 ,  3  :  3.5  } / 5 '::sparsevec;
  {1:1.5,3:3.5}/5
 (1 row)
 
+SELECT ' { } / 5'::sparsevec;
+ sparsevec 
+-----------
+ {}/5
+(1 row)
+
 SELECT ''::sparsevec;
 ERROR:  invalid input syntax for type sparsevec: ""
 LINE 1: SELECT ''::sparsevec;
@@ -24,6 +30,7 @@ SELECT '{ '::sparsevec;
 ERROR:  invalid input syntax for type sparsevec: "{ "
 LINE 1: SELECT '{ '::sparsevec;
                ^
+DETAIL:  Unexpected end of input.
 SELECT '{}'::sparsevec;
 ERROR:  invalid input syntax for type sparsevec: "{}"
 LINE 1: SELECT '{}'::sparsevec;
diff --git a/test/sql/sparsevec_input.sql b/test/sql/sparsevec_input.sql
index 37c35db..0d01711 100644
--- a/test/sql/sparsevec_input.sql
+++ b/test/sql/sparsevec_input.sql
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 SELECT '{1:1.5,3:3.5}/5'::sparsevec;
 SELECT ' { 1 : 1.5 ,  3  :  3.5  } / 5 '::sparsevec;
+SELECT ' { } / 5'::sparsevec;
 
 SELECT ''::sparsevec;
 SELECT '{'::sparsevec;