diff --git a/CHANGES.current b/CHANGES.current
index 503abf732..7295ec8e5 100644
--- a/CHANGES.current
+++ b/CHANGES.current
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ See the RELEASENOTES file for a summary of changes in each release.
 
 Version 2.0.9 (in progress)
 ===========================
+2012-09-06: wsfulton
+	    [Java] Fix (char *STRING, size_t LENGTH) typemaps to accept NULL string.
+
 2012-08-26: drjoe
 	    [R] make ExternalReference slot ref to contain reference
 
diff --git a/Examples/test-suite/director_binary_string.i b/Examples/test-suite/director_binary_string.i
index 96c835959..f842dc2c7 100644
--- a/Examples/test-suite/director_binary_string.i
+++ b/Examples/test-suite/director_binary_string.i
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@ class Callback {
 public:
   virtual ~Callback() {}
   virtual void run(char* dataBufferAA, int sizeAA, char* dataBufferBB, int sizeBB) {
-    memset(dataBufferAA, -1, sizeAA);
-    memset(dataBufferBB, -1, sizeBB);
+    if (dataBufferAA)
+      memset(dataBufferAA, -1, sizeAA);
+    if (dataBufferBB)
+      memset(dataBufferBB, -1, sizeBB);
   }
 };
 
@@ -45,6 +47,9 @@ public:
     }
     return sum;
   }
+  void call_null() {
+    _callback->run(NULL, 0, NULL, 0);
+  }
 };
 
 %}
diff --git a/Examples/test-suite/java/director_binary_string_runme.java b/Examples/test-suite/java/director_binary_string_runme.java
index e2bf4da40..962073367 100644
--- a/Examples/test-suite/java/director_binary_string_runme.java
+++ b/Examples/test-suite/java/director_binary_string_runme.java
@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ public class director_binary_string_runme {
 
     if (sum != 9*2*8 + 13*3*5)
       throw new RuntimeException("Unexpected sum: " + sum);
+
+    new Callback().run(null, null);
+    callback = new DirectorBinaryStringCallback();
+    caller.setCallback(callback);
+    caller.call_null();
   }
 }
 
@@ -32,11 +37,13 @@ class DirectorBinaryStringCallback extends Callback {
   @Override
   public void run(byte[] dataBufferAA, byte[] dataBufferBB)
   {
-    for (int i = 0; i < dataBufferAA.length; i++)
-      dataBufferAA[i] = (byte)(dataBufferAA[i] * 2);
+    if (dataBufferAA != null)
+      for (int i = 0; i < dataBufferAA.length; i++)
+        dataBufferAA[i] = (byte)(dataBufferAA[i] * 2);
 
-    for (int i = 0; i < dataBufferBB.length; i++)
-      dataBufferBB[i] = (byte)(dataBufferBB[i] * 3);
+    if (dataBufferBB != null)
+      for (int i = 0; i < dataBufferBB.length; i++)
+        dataBufferBB[i] = (byte)(dataBufferBB[i] * 3);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/Lib/java/java.swg b/Lib/java/java.swg
index 794b58d88..6126a55e5 100644
--- a/Lib/java/java.swg
+++ b/Lib/java/java.swg
@@ -1301,11 +1301,16 @@ SWIG_PROXY_CONSTRUCTOR(true, true, SWIGTYPE)
 %typemap(javain)  (char *STRING, size_t LENGTH) "$javainput"
 %typemap(freearg) (char *STRING, size_t LENGTH) ""
 %typemap(in)      (char *STRING, size_t LENGTH) {
+  if ($input) {
     $1 = (char *) JCALL2(GetByteArrayElements, jenv, $input, 0);
-    $2 = (size_t) JCALL1(GetArrayLength,       jenv, $input);
+    $2 = (size_t) JCALL1(GetArrayLength, jenv, $input);
+  } else {
+    $1 = 0;
+    $2 = 0;
+  }
 }
 %typemap(argout)  (char *STRING, size_t LENGTH) {
-    JCALL3(ReleaseByteArrayElements, jenv, $input, (jbyte *)$1, 0);
+  if ($input) JCALL3(ReleaseByteArrayElements, jenv, $input, (jbyte *)$1, 0);
 }
 %typemap(directorin, descriptor="[B") (char *STRING, size_t LENGTH) {
   jbyteArray jb = (jenv)->NewByteArray($2);