diff --git a/Include/bytearrayobject.h b/Include/bytearrayobject.h
index 265b4bbdd03..8702e5a8340 100644
--- a/Include/bytearrayobject.h
+++ b/Include/bytearrayobject.h
@@ -44,9 +44,13 @@ PyAPI_FUNC(char *) PyByteArray_AsString(PyObject *);
 PyAPI_FUNC(int) PyByteArray_Resize(PyObject *, Py_ssize_t);
 
 /* Macros, trading safety for speed */
-#define PyByteArray_AS_STRING(self) (assert(PyByteArray_Check(self)),((PyByteArrayObject *)(self))->ob_bytes)
+#define PyByteArray_AS_STRING(self) \
+    (assert(PyByteArray_Check(self)), \
+     Py_SIZE(self) ? ((PyByteArrayObject *)(self))->ob_bytes : _PyByteArray_empty_string)
 #define PyByteArray_GET_SIZE(self)  (assert(PyByteArray_Check(self)),Py_SIZE(self))
 
+extern char _PyByteArray_empty_string[];
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_bytes.py b/Lib/test/test_bytes.py
index 48b02583333..f8f36deef2a 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_bytes.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_bytes.py
@@ -787,6 +787,13 @@ class ByteArrayTest(BaseBytesTest):
         self.assertRaises(BufferError, delslice)
         self.assertEquals(b, orig)
 
+    def test_empty_bytearray(self):
+        # Issue #7561: operations on empty bytearrays could crash in many
+        # situations, due to a fragile implementation of the
+        # PyByteArray_AS_STRING() C macro.
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, int, bytearray(b''))
+
+
 class AssortedBytesTest(unittest.TestCase):
     #
     # Test various combinations of bytes and bytearray
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 07e217304c0..9d4387447fb 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ What's New in Python 2.6.5
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #7561: Operations on empty bytearrays (such as `int(bytearray())`)
+  could crash in many places because of the PyByteArray_AS_STRING() macro
+  returning NULL.  The macro now returns a statically allocated empty
+  string instead.
+
 - Issue #7604: Deleting an unset slotted attribute did not raise an
   AttributeError.
 
diff --git a/Objects/bytearrayobject.c b/Objects/bytearrayobject.c
index 8aa2928d203..c4a25c0d9a4 100644
--- a/Objects/bytearrayobject.c
+++ b/Objects/bytearrayobject.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "bytes_methods.h"
 
 static PyByteArrayObject *nullbytes = NULL;
+char _PyByteArray_empty_string[] = "";
 
 void
 PyByteArray_Fini(void)
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ bytes_buffer_getreadbuf(PyByteArrayObject *self, Py_ssize_t index, const void **
                 "accessing non-existent bytes segment");
         return -1;
     }
-    *ptr = (void *)self->ob_bytes;
+    *ptr = (void *)PyByteArray_AS_STRING(self);
     return Py_SIZE(self);
 }
 
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@ bytes_buffer_getwritebuf(PyByteArrayObject *self, Py_ssize_t index, const void *
                 "accessing non-existent bytes segment");
         return -1;
     }
-    *ptr = (void *)self->ob_bytes;
+    *ptr = (void *)PyByteArray_AS_STRING(self);
     return Py_SIZE(self);
 }
 
@@ -106,7 +107,7 @@ bytes_buffer_getcharbuf(PyByteArrayObject *self, Py_ssize_t index, const char **
                 "accessing non-existent bytes segment");
         return -1;
     }
-    *ptr = self->ob_bytes;
+    *ptr = PyByteArray_AS_STRING(self);
     return Py_SIZE(self);
 }
 
@@ -119,10 +120,7 @@ bytes_getbuffer(PyByteArrayObject *obj, Py_buffer *view, int flags)
                 obj->ob_exports++;
                 return 0;
         }
-        if (obj->ob_bytes == NULL)
-                ptr = "";
-        else
-                ptr = obj->ob_bytes;
+        ptr = (void *) PyByteArray_AS_STRING(obj);
         ret = PyBuffer_FillInfo(view, (PyObject*)obj, ptr, Py_SIZE(obj), 0, flags);
         if (ret >= 0) {
                 obj->ob_exports++;
@@ -201,7 +199,7 @@ PyByteArray_FromStringAndSize(const char *bytes, Py_ssize_t size)
             Py_DECREF(new);
             return PyErr_NoMemory();
         }
-        if (bytes != NULL)
+        if (bytes != NULL && size > 0)
             memcpy(new->ob_bytes, bytes, size);
         new->ob_bytes[size] = '\0';  /* Trailing null byte */
     }