diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala
index a3d2f587b9052..7e04d641ad96e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala
@@ -289,6 +289,9 @@ private[spark] class ExternalSorter[K, V, C](
           inMemBuffered.hasNext && inMemBuffered.head._1._1 == p
         }
         override def next(): Product2[K, C] = {
+          if (!hasNext) {
+            throw new NoSuchElementException
+          }
           val elem = inMemBuffered.next()
           (elem._1._2, elem._2)
         }
@@ -314,7 +317,7 @@ private[spark] class ExternalSorter[K, V, C](
   private def mergeSort(iterators: Seq[Iterator[Product2[K, C]]], comparator: Comparator[K])
     : Iterator[Product2[K, C]] =
   {
-    val bufferedIters = iterators.map(_.buffered)
+    val bufferedIters = iterators.filter(_.hasNext).map(_.buffered)
     type Iter = BufferedIterator[Product2[K, C]]
     val heap = new mutable.PriorityQueue[Iter]()(new Ordering[Iter] {
       override def compare(x: Iter, y: Iter): Int = -comparator.compare(x.head._1, y.head._1)
@@ -404,7 +407,7 @@ private[spark] class ExternalSorter[K, V, C](
       // from the iterators, without buffering all the ones that are "equal" to a given key.
       // We do so with code similar to mergeSort, except our Iterator.next combines together all
       // the elements with the given key.
-      val bufferedIters = iterators.map(_.buffered)
+      val bufferedIters = iterators.filter(_.hasNext).map(_.buffered)
       type Iter = BufferedIterator[Product2[K, C]]
       val heap = new mutable.PriorityQueue[Iter]()(new Ordering[Iter] {
         override def compare(x: Iter, y: Iter): Int = -comparator.compare(x.head._1, y.head._1)
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorterSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorterSuite.scala
index eae72c86c5d72..18791e632e6ff 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorterSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorterSuite.scala
@@ -25,6 +25,36 @@ import org.apache.spark._
 import org.apache.spark.SparkContext._
 
 class ExternalSorterSuite extends FunSuite with LocalSparkContext {
+  test("empty data stream") {
+    val conf = new SparkConf(false)
+    conf.set("spark.shuffle.memoryFraction", "0.001")
+    conf.set("spark.shuffle.manager", "org.apache.spark.shuffle.sort.SortShuffleManager")
+    sc = new SparkContext("local", "test", conf)
+
+    val agg = new Aggregator[Int, Int, Int](i => i, (i, j) => i + j, (i, j) => i + j)
+    val ord = implicitly[Ordering[Int]]
+
+    // Both aggregator and ordering
+    val sorter = new ExternalSorter[Int, Int, Int](
+      Some(agg), Some(new HashPartitioner(3)), Some(ord), None)
+    assert(sorter.iterator.toSeq === Seq())
+
+    // Only aggregator
+    val sorter2 = new ExternalSorter[Int, Int, Int](
+      Some(agg), Some(new HashPartitioner(3)), None, None)
+    assert(sorter2.iterator.toSeq === Seq())
+
+    // Only ordering
+    val sorter3 = new ExternalSorter[Int, Int, Int](
+      None, Some(new HashPartitioner(3)), Some(ord), None)
+    assert(sorter3.iterator.toSeq === Seq())
+
+    // Neither aggregator nor ordering
+    val sorter4 = new ExternalSorter[Int, Int, Int](
+      None, Some(new HashPartitioner(3)), None, None)
+    assert(sorter4.iterator.toSeq === Seq())
+  }
+
   test("spilling in local cluster") {
     val conf = new SparkConf(true)  // Load defaults, otherwise SPARK_HOME is not found
     conf.set("spark.shuffle.memoryFraction", "0.001")