diff --git a/library/HTMLPurifier.php b/library/HTMLPurifier.php
index 58bbddb0..10e61c14 100644
--- a/library/HTMLPurifier.php
+++ b/library/HTMLPurifier.php
@@ -240,6 +240,7 @@ class HTMLPurifier
     public function purifyArray($array_of_html, $config = null)
     {
         $context_array = array();
+        $array = array();
         foreach($array_of_html as $key=>$value){
             if (is_array($value)) {
                 $array[$key] = $this->purifyArray($value, $config);
diff --git a/tests/HTMLPurifierTest.php b/tests/HTMLPurifierTest.php
index 2d28bc3c..a51038eb 100644
--- a/tests/HTMLPurifierTest.php
+++ b/tests/HTMLPurifierTest.php
@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@ class HTMLPurifierTest extends HTMLPurifier_Harness
         );
     }
 
+    public function test_purifyArray_empty() {
+        $purifiedEmptyArray = $this->purifier->purifyArray(array());
+        $this->assertTrue(
+            empty($purifiedEmptyArray)
+        );
+    }
+
     public function testGetInstance()
     {
         $purifier  = HTMLPurifier::getInstance();