diff --git a/src/resource_item.cpp b/src/resource_item.cpp
index 35b6391..ac87305 100644
--- a/src/resource_item.cpp
+++ b/src/resource_item.cpp
@@ -47,11 +47,17 @@ bool ResourceItem::SetData(const string &data)
 
 bool ResourceItem::SetData(const int8_t *data, uint32_t length)
 {
-    if (data == nullptr || length <= 0) {
+    if (data == nullptr || length < 0) {
         return false;
     }
 
     ReleaseData();
+    if (length == 0) {
+        // the string in the element directory can be empty
+        data_ = new (nothrow) int8_t[0];
+        dataLen_ = 0;
+        return true;
+    }
     int8_t *buffer = reinterpret_cast<int8_t *>(new (nothrow) int8_t[length]);
     if (buffer == nullptr) {
         return false;