diff --git a/api/src/org/labkey/api/data/ConvertHelper.java b/api/src/org/labkey/api/data/ConvertHelper.java
index a8918d2bc9a..c65950942a8 100644
--- a/api/src/org/labkey/api/data/ConvertHelper.java
+++ b/api/src/org/labkey/api/data/ConvertHelper.java
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.labkey.api.collections.ConcurrentHashSet;
+import org.labkey.api.exp.PropertyType;
 import org.labkey.api.gwt.client.DefaultScaleType;
 import org.labkey.api.gwt.client.FacetingBehaviorType;
 import org.labkey.api.query.FieldKey;
@@ -1210,6 +1211,61 @@ public void testInvalidInfDoubleConverter()
                 }
             }
         }
+
+        @Test
+        public void testEmpty()
+        {
+            assertNull(JdbcType.CHAR.convert(""));
+            assertNull(JdbcType.VARCHAR.convert(""));
+            assertNull(JdbcType.LONGVARCHAR.convert(""));
+
+            // PropertyType is used for domain defined tables.
+            // I would expect these to return null.
+            assertEquals("", PropertyType.STRING.convert(""));
+            assertEquals("", PropertyType.MULTI_LINE.convert(""));
+            assertEquals("", PropertyType.XML_TEXT.convert(""));
+
+            // Since we often convert "through" string, I'm not sure this low-level
+            // method should modify "".  This could potentially mess up
+            // converting array->string->array for instance.
+            // [] -> "" -> null
+            // vs
+            // [] -> "" -> []
+            assertNull(ConvertHelper.convert("", String.class));
+            assertNull(ConvertUtils.convert(""));
+            assertNull(ConvertUtils.convert("", String.class));
+        }
+
+        @Test
+        public void testBlank()
+        {
+            // blank strings do not get the empty string special handling.
+            assertEquals(" ", JdbcType.CHAR.convert(" "));
+            assertEquals(" ", JdbcType.VARCHAR.convert(" "));
+            assertEquals(" ", JdbcType.LONGVARCHAR.convert(" "));
+            assertEquals(" ", PropertyType.STRING.convert(" "));
+            assertEquals(" ", PropertyType.MULTI_LINE.convert(" "));
+            assertEquals(" ", PropertyType.XML_TEXT.convert(" "));
+            assertEquals(" ", ConvertHelper.convert(" ", String.class));
+            assertEquals(" ", ConvertUtils.convert(" "));
+            assertEquals(" ", ConvertUtils.convert(" ", String.class));
+        }
+
+        @Test
+        public void testTrim()
+        {
+            // convert() does not trim.  That is handled in DataIterator.
+            // e.g. see SimpleTranslator.createConvertColumn()
+            assertEquals(" x ", JdbcType.CHAR.convert(" x "));
+            assertEquals(" x ", JdbcType.VARCHAR.convert(" x "));
+            assertEquals(" x ", JdbcType.LONGVARCHAR.convert(" x "));
+            assertEquals(" x ", PropertyType.STRING.convert(" x "));
+            assertEquals(" x ", PropertyType.MULTI_LINE.convert(" x "));
+            assertEquals(" x ", PropertyType.XML_TEXT.convert(" x "));
+            assertEquals(" x ", ConvertHelper.convert(" x ", String.class));
+            assertEquals(" x ", ConvertUtils.convert(" x "));
+            assertEquals(" x ", ConvertUtils.convert(" x ", String.class));
+        }
     }
 
     // Note: Keep in sync with LabKeySiteWrapper.getConversionErrorMessage()
diff --git a/api/src/org/labkey/api/data/JdbcType.java b/api/src/org/labkey/api/data/JdbcType.java
index e427d25382a..e0cd6aefa3a 100644
--- a/api/src/org/labkey/api/data/JdbcType.java
+++ b/api/src/org/labkey/api/data/JdbcType.java
@@ -89,6 +89,12 @@ protected void addSqlTypes(Collection<Integer> sqlTypes)
         {
             sqlTypes.add(Types.NCHAR);
         }
+
+        @Override
+        public Object convert(Object o) throws ConversionException
+        {
+            return VARCHAR.convert(o);
+        }
     },
 
     DECIMAL(Types.DECIMAL, BigDecimal.class, null, "numberfield")