diff --git a/src/BlockCipher.php b/src/BlockCipher.php
index 0b9b0e8..d2c7517 100644
--- a/src/BlockCipher.php
+++ b/src/BlockCipher.php
@@ -391,9 +391,19 @@ public function getPbkdf2HashAlgorithm()
     public function encrypt($data)
     {
         // 0 (as integer), 0.0 (as float) & '0' (as string) will return false, though these should be allowed
-        if (!is_string($data) || $data === '') {
+        // Must be a string, integer, or float in order to encrypt
+        if ((is_string($data) && $data === '')
+            || is_array($data)
+            || is_object($data)
+        ) {
             throw new Exception\InvalidArgumentException('The data to encrypt cannot be empty');
         }
+
+        // Cast to string prior to encrypting
+        if (!is_string($data)) {
+            $data = (string) $data;
+        }
+
         if (empty($this->cipher)) {
             throw new Exception\InvalidArgumentException('No symmetric cipher specified');
         }
diff --git a/src/Symmetric/Mcrypt.php b/src/Symmetric/Mcrypt.php
index 7410a8d..2c6c90d 100755
--- a/src/Symmetric/Mcrypt.php
+++ b/src/Symmetric/Mcrypt.php
@@ -326,7 +326,8 @@ public function getPadding()
      */
     public function encrypt($data)
     {
-        if (empty($data)) {
+        // Cannot encrypt empty string
+        if (!is_string($data) || $data === '') {
             throw new Exception\InvalidArgumentException('The data to encrypt cannot be empty');
         }
         if (null === $this->getKey()) {
diff --git a/test/BlockCipherTest.php b/test/BlockCipherTest.php
index 999817b..14826ff 100644
--- a/test/BlockCipherTest.php
+++ b/test/BlockCipherTest.php
@@ -156,6 +156,32 @@ public function testEncryptDecryptUsingBinary()
         }
     }
 
+    public function zeroValuesProvider()
+    {
+        return array(
+            '"0"'   => array(0),
+            '"0.0"' => array(0.0),
+            '"0"'   => array('0'),
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider zeroValuesProvider
+     */
+    public function testEncryptDecryptUsingZero($value)
+    {
+        $this->blockCipher->setKey('test');
+        $this->blockCipher->setKeyIteration(1000);
+        foreach ($this->blockCipher->getCipherSupportedAlgorithms() as $algo) {
+            $this->blockCipher->setCipherAlgorithm($algo);
+
+            $encrypted = $this->blockCipher->encrypt($value);
+            $this->assertTrue(!empty($encrypted));
+            $decrypted = $this->blockCipher->decrypt($encrypted);
+            $this->assertEquals($value, $decrypted);
+        }
+    }
+
     public function testDecryptAuthFail()
     {
         $this->blockCipher->setKey('test');