diff --git a/src/reconcile/rec_col.c b/src/reconcile/rec_col.c
index 522d179f6..9ed83e54e 100644
--- a/src/reconcile/rec_col.c
+++ b/src/reconcile/rec_col.c
@@ -1073,8 +1073,8 @@ compare:
(last.start_ts == start_ts && last.start_txn == start_txn &&
last.stop_ts == stop_ts && last.stop_txn == stop_txn)) &&
((deleted && last.deleted) ||
- (!deleted && !last.deleted && last.value->size == size &&
- memcmp(last.value->data, data, size) == 0))) {
+ (!deleted && !last.deleted && last.value->size != 0 &&
+ last.value->size == size && memcmp(last.value->data, data, size) == 0))) {
In order to fix this last.value -> size had to be checked to make sure it was non zero. We need to investigate why this was caused by the changes introduced in WT-5280.