diff --git a/lib/AnswerHash.pm b/lib/AnswerHash.pm
index 06ffc11f5c..0a8d9f2146 100755
--- a/lib/AnswerHash.pm
+++ b/lib/AnswerHash.pm
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ sub input {    #$rh_ans->input('foo') is a synonym for $rh_ans->{student_ans}='f
 sub score {
 	my $self  = shift;
 	my $score = shift;
-	$self->{score} = $score if defined($score);
+	$self->{score} = $score || 0 if defined($score);
 	$self->{score};
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/Value/AnswerChecker.pm b/lib/Value/AnswerChecker.pm
index 7abbda7099..2ae6c1f6f9 100644
--- a/lib/Value/AnswerChecker.pm
+++ b/lib/Value/AnswerChecker.pm
@@ -1696,7 +1696,7 @@ sub cmp_list_compare {
 	#
 	#  Check for empty lists
 	#
-	if (scalar(@correct) == 0) { $ans->score($m == 0); return }
+	if (scalar(@correct) == 0) { $ans->score($m == 0 ? 1 : 0); return }
 
 	#
 	#  Loop through student answers looking for correct ones