diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d44517398f1..46058a407de 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ The version headers in this history reflect the versions of Apollo Server itself
 
 > The changes noted within this `vNEXT` section have not been released yet.  New PRs and commits which introduce changes should include an entry in this `vNEXT` section as part of their development.  When a release is being prepared, a new header will be (manually) created below and the the appropriate changes within that release will be moved into the new section.
 
+- `apollo-server-core`: Don't try parsing `variables` and `extensions` as JSON if they are defined but empty strings. [PR #3501](https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/pull/3501)
+
 ### v2.9.8
 
 > [See complete versioning details.](https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/commit/3cdde1b7a71ace6411fbacf82a1a61bf737444a6)
diff --git a/packages/apollo-server-core/src/runHttpQuery.ts b/packages/apollo-server-core/src/runHttpQuery.ts
index 3aa30c5b6ca..633c50daacd 100644
--- a/packages/apollo-server-core/src/runHttpQuery.ts
+++ b/packages/apollo-server-core/src/runHttpQuery.ts
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ function parseGraphQLRequest(
   let queryString: string | undefined = requestParams.query;
   let extensions = requestParams.extensions;
 
-  if (typeof extensions === 'string') {
+  if (typeof extensions === 'string' && extensions !== '') {
     // For GET requests, we have to JSON-parse extensions. (For POST
     // requests they get parsed as part of parsing the larger body they're
     // inside.)
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@ function parseGraphQLRequest(
   const operationName = requestParams.operationName;
 
   let variables = requestParams.variables;
-  if (typeof variables === 'string') {
+  if (typeof variables === 'string' && variables !== '') {
     try {
       // XXX Really we should only do this for GET requests, but for
       // compatibility reasons we'll keep doing this at least for now for