diff --git a/src/singledocparser.cpp b/src/singledocparser.cpp
index 0431b4b..e9f3222 100644
--- a/src/singledocparser.cpp
+++ b/src/singledocparser.cpp
@@ -75,6 +75,12 @@ namespace YAML
 		ParseProperties(tag, anchor);
 		
 		const Token& token = m_scanner.peek();
+
+        if(token.type == Token::PLAIN_SCALAR && token.value == "null") {
+            eventHandler.OnNull(mark, anchor);
+            m_scanner.pop();
+            return;
+        }
 		
 		// add non-specific tags
 		if(tag.empty())
@@ -256,6 +262,7 @@ namespace YAML
 				throw ParserException(m_scanner.mark(), ErrorMsg::END_OF_MAP_FLOW);
 			
 			Token& token = m_scanner.peek();
+            const Mark mark = token.mark;
 			// first check for end
 			if(token.type == Token::FLOW_MAP_END) {
 				m_scanner.pop();
@@ -267,7 +274,7 @@ namespace YAML
 				m_scanner.pop();
 				HandleNode(eventHandler);
 			} else {
-				eventHandler.OnNull(token.mark, NullAnchor);
+				eventHandler.OnNull(mark, NullAnchor);
 			}
 			
 			// now grab value (optional)
@@ -275,7 +282,7 @@ namespace YAML
 				m_scanner.pop();
 				HandleNode(eventHandler);
 			} else {
-				eventHandler.OnNull(token.mark, NullAnchor);
+				eventHandler.OnNull(mark, NullAnchor);
 			}
             
             if(m_scanner.empty())
diff --git a/test/core/parsertests.cpp b/test/core/parsertests.cpp
index 2b8b5ef..5be7953 100644
--- a/test/core/parsertests.cpp
+++ b/test/core/parsertests.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,18 @@ namespace Test
             EXPECT_DOC_END();
             DONE();
         }
+
+        TEST NullStringScalar()
+        {
+            HANDLE("foo: null");
+            EXPECT_DOC_START();
+            EXPECT_MAP_START("?", 0);
+            EXPECT_SCALAR("?", 0, "foo");
+            EXPECT_NULL(0);
+            EXPECT_MAP_END();
+            EXPECT_DOC_END();
+            DONE();
+        }
     }
     
 	namespace {
@@ -57,6 +69,7 @@ namespace Test
 		int total = 0;
 		RunParserTest(&Parser::NoEndOfMapFlow, "No end of map flow", passed, total);
 		RunParserTest(&Parser::PlainScalarStartingWithQuestionMark, "Plain scalar starting with question mark", passed, total);
+		RunParserTest(&Parser::NullStringScalar, "Null string scalar", passed, total);
 		
 		std::cout << "Parser tests: " << passed << "/" << total << " passed\n";
 		return passed == total;