diff --git a/values.go b/values.go
index 395b59ce..ff2dfbfb 100644
--- a/values.go
+++ b/values.go
@@ -3022,6 +3022,12 @@ func decodeAclItemArray(vr *ValueReader) []AclItem {
 	}
 
 	str := vr.ReadString(vr.Len())
+
+	// short-circuit empty array
+	if str == "{}" {
+		return []AclItem{}
+	}
+
 	// remove the '{' at the front and the '}' at the end
 	str = str[1 : len(str)-1]
 	strs := strings.Split(str, ",")
diff --git a/values_test.go b/values_test.go
index 17a98197..4cbe40ea 100644
--- a/values_test.go
+++ b/values_test.go
@@ -662,6 +662,9 @@ func TestAclArrayDecoding(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		query []pgx.AclItem
 	}{
+		{
+			[]pgx.AclItem{},
+		},
 		{
 			[]pgx.AclItem{"=r/postgres"},
 		},