diff --git a/include/boost/utility/string_ref.hpp b/include/boost/utility/string_ref.hpp
index d234e54..4b36ffc 100644
--- a/include/boost/utility/string_ref.hpp
+++ b/include/boost/utility/string_ref.hpp
@@ -181,6 +181,7 @@ namespace boost {
             }
 
         size_type find(basic_string_ref s) const {
+            if (s.empty()) return 0;
             const_iterator iter = std::search ( this->cbegin (), this->cend (),
                                                 s.cbegin (), s.cend (), traits::eq );
             return iter == this->cend () ? npos : std::distance ( this->cbegin (), iter );
@@ -193,6 +194,7 @@ namespace boost {
             }
 
         size_type rfind(basic_string_ref s) const {
+            if (s.empty()) return 0;
             const_reverse_iterator iter = std::search ( this->crbegin (), this->crend (),
                                                 s.crbegin (), s.crend (), traits::eq );
             return iter == this->crend () ? npos : (std::distance(iter, this->crend()) - s.size());
diff --git a/test/string_ref_test2.cpp b/test/string_ref_test2.cpp
index ccb5d6d..d733775 100644
--- a/test/string_ref_test2.cpp
+++ b/test/string_ref_test2.cpp
@@ -93,6 +93,10 @@ void find ( const char *arg ) {
     string_ref sr2;
     const char *p;
 
+//	When we search for the empty string, we find it at position 0
+    BOOST_TEST ( sr1.find (sr2) == 0 );
+    BOOST_TEST ( sr1.rfind(sr2) == 0 );
+
 //  Look for each character in the string(searching from the start)
     p = arg;
     sr1 = arg;
diff --git a/test/string_view_test2.cpp b/test/string_view_test2.cpp
index 2549e64..135fd1a 100644
--- a/test/string_view_test2.cpp
+++ b/test/string_view_test2.cpp
@@ -97,6 +97,10 @@ void find ( const char *arg ) {
     string_view sr2;
     const char *p;
 
+//	When we search for the empty string, we find it at position 0
+    BOOST_TEST ( sr1.find (sr2) == 0 );
+    BOOST_TEST ( sr1.rfind(sr2) == 0 );
+
 //  Look for each character in the string(searching from the start)
     p = arg;
     sr1 = arg;