diff --git a/src/FontLib/BinaryStream.php b/src/FontLib/BinaryStream.php
index cc5e72c..b6e91b6 100644
--- a/src/FontLib/BinaryStream.php
+++ b/src/FontLib/BinaryStream.php
@@ -158,7 +158,11 @@ public function write($data, $length = null) {
   }
 
   public function readUInt8() {
-    return ord($this->read(1));
+    $byte = $this->read(1);
+    if ($byte === '') {
+      return 0;
+    }
+    return ord($byte);
   }
 
   public function readUInt8Many($count) {