diff --git a/spine-libgdx/spine-libgdx/src/com/esotericsoftware/spine/SkeletonJson.java b/spine-libgdx/spine-libgdx/src/com/esotericsoftware/spine/SkeletonJson.java
index 17660be01..62a5b07f9 100644
--- a/spine-libgdx/spine-libgdx/src/com/esotericsoftware/spine/SkeletonJson.java
+++ b/spine-libgdx/spine-libgdx/src/com/esotericsoftware/spine/SkeletonJson.java
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ public class SkeletonJson {
 			EventData data = new EventData(eventMap.name);
 			data.intValue = eventMap.getInt("int", 0);
 			data.floatValue = eventMap.getFloat("float", 0f);
-			data.stringValue = eventMap.getString("string", null);
+			data.stringValue = eventMap.getString("string", "");
 			skeletonData.events.add(data);
 		}