diff --git a/Lib/json/tests/test_decode.py b/Lib/json/tests/test_decode.py
index 95088b45444..082159560d4 100644
--- a/Lib/json/tests/test_decode.py
+++ b/Lib/json/tests/test_decode.py
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ class TestDecode(TestCase):
     def test_empty_objects(self):
         self.assertEqual(json.loads('{}'), {})
         self.assertEqual(json.loads('[]'), [])
-        self.assertEqual(json.loads('""'), "")
+        self.assertEqual(json.loads('""'), u"")
+        self.assertIsInstance(json.loads('""'), unicode)
 
     def test_object_pairs_hook(self):
         s = '{"xkd":1, "kcw":2, "art":3, "hxm":4, "qrt":5, "pad":6, "hoy":7}'
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index b14a6cb6278..743f10ac1b9 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #11982: fix json.loads('""') to return u'' rather than ''.
+
 - Issue #11277: mmap.mmap() calls fcntl(fd, F_FULLFSYNC) on Mac OS X to get
   around a mmap bug with sparse files. Patch written by Steffen Daode Nurpmeso.
 
diff --git a/Modules/_json.c b/Modules/_json.c
index 71d3e58297d..8d63edb2bf7 100644
--- a/Modules/_json.c
+++ b/Modules/_json.c
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ scanstring_str(PyObject *pystr, Py_ssize_t end, char *encoding, int strict, Py_s
         Py_DECREF(chunk);
     }
 
-    rval = join_list_string(chunks);
+    rval = join_list_unicode(chunks);
     if (rval == NULL) {
         goto bail;
     }