diff --git a/rest_framework/serializers.py b/rest_framework/serializers.py
index d9c3c4c5a2..bcde37c5c5 100644
--- a/rest_framework/serializers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/serializers.py
@@ -587,7 +587,7 @@ def get_value(self, dictionary):
         # We override the default field access in order to support
         # lists in HTML forms.
         if html.is_html_input(dictionary):
-            return html.parse_html_list(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name)
+            return html.parse_html_list(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name) or empty
         return dictionary.get(self.field_name, empty)
 
     def run_validation(self, data=empty):
diff --git a/tests/test_serializer_lists.py b/tests/test_serializer_lists.py
index a7955d83c7..3b812943f4 100644
--- a/tests/test_serializer_lists.py
+++ b/tests/test_serializer_lists.py
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ class TestNestedListSerializer:
 
     def setup(self):
         class TestSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
-            integers = serializers.ListSerializer(child=serializers.IntegerField())
+            integers = serializers.ListSerializer(child=serializers.IntegerField(), required=False)
             booleans = serializers.ListSerializer(child=serializers.BooleanField())
 
             def create(self, validated_data):
@@ -221,6 +221,22 @@ def test_validate_html_input(self):
         assert serializer.is_valid()
         assert serializer.validated_data == expected_output
 
+    def test_validate_empty_html_input(self):
+        """
+        When a field isn't present in HTML input, the field isn't included
+        in the output.
+        """
+        input_data = MultiValueDict({
+            "booleans[0]": ["true"],
+            "booleans[1]": ["false"]
+        })
+        expected_output = {
+            "booleans": [True, False]
+        }
+        serializer = self.Serializer(data=input_data)
+        assert serializer.is_valid()
+        assert serializer.validated_data == expected_output
+
 
 class TestNestedListOfListsSerializer:
     def setup(self):