diff --git a/src/Stache/Stores/GlobalVariablesStore.php b/src/Stache/Stores/GlobalVariablesStore.php
index ad82da04485..a204d851546 100644
--- a/src/Stache/Stores/GlobalVariablesStore.php
+++ b/src/Stache/Stores/GlobalVariablesStore.php
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ protected function makeVariablesFromFile($handle, $path, $data)
     {
         $variables = app(Variables::class)
             ->initialPath($path)
-            ->data(Arr::except($data, 'origin'));
+            ->data(Arr::except($data ?? [], 'origin'));
 
         $handle = explode('/', $handle);
 
diff --git a/src/UpdateScripts/UpdateGlobalVariables.php b/src/UpdateScripts/UpdateGlobalVariables.php
index d317dfb8839..414261c2bc5 100644
--- a/src/UpdateScripts/UpdateGlobalVariables.php
+++ b/src/UpdateScripts/UpdateGlobalVariables.php
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ private function buildSitesArray(): void
             $globalSet->sites($sites)->save();
 
             $variables->each(function ($variable) {
-                $data = YAML::file($variable->path())->parse();
+                $data = YAML::file($variable->path())->parse() ?? [];
 
                 File::put($variable->path(), YAML::dump(Arr::except($data, 'origin')));
             });
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ private function migrateFileStructure(): void
             }
 
             $contents = YAML::file($globalSet->path())->parse();
-            $data = Arr::get($contents, 'data', []);
+            $data = Arr::get($contents, 'data') ?? [];
 
             $globalSet->save();
 
diff --git a/tests/Stache/Stores/GlobalVariablesStoreTest.php b/tests/Stache/Stores/GlobalVariablesStoreTest.php
index e957de21ee0..39dda56d4ea 100644
--- a/tests/Stache/Stores/GlobalVariablesStoreTest.php
+++ b/tests/Stache/Stores/GlobalVariablesStoreTest.php
@@ -70,6 +70,17 @@ public function it_makes_global_variable_instances_from_files()
         $this->assertEquals('example', $item->handle());
     }
 
+    #[Test]
+    public function it_makes_global_variable_instances_from_files_with_null_contents()
+    {
+        $item = $this->store->makeItemFromFile(Path::tidy($this->tempDir.'/en/example.yaml'), 'null');
+
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(Variables::class, $item);
+        $this->assertEquals('example::en', $item->id());
+        $this->assertEquals('example', $item->handle());
+        $this->assertEquals([], $item->data()->all());
+    }
+
     #[Test]
     public function it_uses_the_id_as_the_item_key()
     {
diff --git a/tests/UpdateScripts/UpdateGlobalVariablesTest.php b/tests/UpdateScripts/UpdateGlobalVariablesTest.php
index 4230b514b08..2cc3fc6bf21 100644
--- a/tests/UpdateScripts/UpdateGlobalVariablesTest.php
+++ b/tests/UpdateScripts/UpdateGlobalVariablesTest.php
@@ -59,6 +59,26 @@ public function it_migrates_global_variables_in_a_single_site_install()
         unlink($this->globalsPath.'/en/test.yaml');
     }
 
+    #[Test]
+    public function it_migrates_global_variables_with_empty_data_in_a_single_site_install()
+    {
+        File::put($this->globalsPath.'/test.yaml', "title: Test\ndata:");
+
+        $this->runUpdateScript(UpdateGlobalVariables::class);
+
+        $expected = <<<'YAML'
+title: Test
+
+YAML;
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, File::get($this->globalsPath.'/test.yaml'));
+
+        // Empty data should produce an empty array, not null
+        $this->assertEquals([], YAML::parse(File::get($this->globalsPath.'/en/test.yaml')));
+
+        unlink($this->globalsPath.'/test.yaml');
+        unlink($this->globalsPath.'/en/test.yaml');
+    }
+
     #[Test]
     public function it_builds_the_sites_array_in_a_multi_site_install()
     {
@@ -96,4 +116,25 @@ public function it_builds_the_sites_array_in_a_multi_site_install()
         $this->assertEquals(['foo' => 'Bar'], YAML::parse(File::get($this->globalsPath.'/fr/test.yaml')));
         $this->assertEquals([], YAML::parse(File::get($this->globalsPath.'/de/test.yaml')));
     }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function it_handles_null_content_in_global_variables_in_a_multi_site_install()
+    {
+        $this->setSites([
+            'en' => ['url' => '/', 'locale' => 'en_US', 'name' => 'English'],
+            'fr' => ['url' => '/', 'locale' => 'fr_FR', 'name' => 'French'],
+        ]);
+
+        File::ensureDirectoryExists($this->globalsPath.'/en');
+        File::ensureDirectoryExists($this->globalsPath.'/fr');
+
+        File::put($this->globalsPath.'/test.yaml', Yaml::dump(['title' => 'Test']));
+        File::put($this->globalsPath.'/en/test.yaml', Yaml::dump(['foo' => 'Bar']));
+        File::put($this->globalsPath.'/fr/test.yaml', 'null');
+
+        $this->runUpdateScript(UpdateGlobalVariables::class);
+
+        // File with null content should result in empty array after update
+        $this->assertEquals([], YAML::parse(File::get($this->globalsPath.'/fr/test.yaml')));
+    }
 }