diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/Credential.cs b/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/Credential.cs
index 26a1d0ac0c2..6056173d396 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/Credential.cs
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/Credential.cs
@@ -330,6 +330,12 @@ private static bool IsValidUserName(string input,
                                             out string user,
                                             out string domain)
         {
+            if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(input))
+            {
+                user = domain = null;
+                return false;
+            }
+
             SplitUserDomain(input, out user, out domain);
 
             if ((user == null) ||
diff --git a/test/powershell/engine/Basic/Credential.Tests.ps1 b/test/powershell/engine/Basic/Credential.Tests.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3612efb4c6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/powershell/engine/Basic/Credential.Tests.ps1
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+Describe "Credential tests" -Tags "CI" {
+    It "Explicit cast for an empty credential returns null" {
+         # We should explicitly check that the expression returns $null
+         [PSCredential]::Empty.GetNetworkCredential() | Should Be $null
+    }
+}