diff --git a/src/file.cpp b/src/file.cpp
index 1127118..41616c5 100644
--- a/src/file.cpp
+++ b/src/file.cpp
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ char File::peek()
     int c = fgetc(m_file);
     ungetc(c, m_file);
 
-    return static_cast<char>(c);
+    return c == EOF ? '\0' : static_cast<char>(c);
 }
 
 bool File::get_line(std::string& line, NewLine* newline)
diff --git a/src/parser.cpp b/src/parser.cpp
index cc6291b..d606178 100644
--- a/src/parser.cpp
+++ b/src/parser.cpp
@@ -631,10 +631,16 @@ bool Parser::parse_patch_header(Patch& patch, PatchHeaderInfo& header_info, int
     }
 
     if (patch.operation == Operation::Change) {
-        if (hunk.new_file_range.start_line == 0)
+        if (patch.new_file_path == "/dev/null") {
             patch.operation = Operation::Delete;
-        else if (hunk.old_file_range.start_line == 0)
+        } else if (patch.old_file_path == "/dev/null") {
             patch.operation = Operation::Add;
+        } else if (patch.old_file_path.empty() && patch.new_file_path.empty()) {
+            if (hunk.new_file_range.start_line == 0)
+                patch.operation = Operation::Delete;
+            else if (hunk.old_file_range.start_line == 0)
+                patch.operation = Operation::Add;
+        }
     }
 
     return should_parse_body;
diff --git a/tests/test_basic.cpp b/tests/test_basic.cpp
index 4002c38..4191aa9 100644
--- a/tests/test_basic.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_basic.cpp
@@ -769,6 +769,33 @@ PATCH_TEST(remove_file_successfully_posix_and_remove_flag)
     remove_file(patch_path, true, { "--posix", "--remove-empty-files" });
 }
 
+PATCH_TEST(unified_patch_that_empties_file_keeps_empty_file)
+{
+    {
+        Patch::File file("diff.patch", std::ios_base::out);
+        file << R"(--- old.txt	2026-04-05 13:10:37
++++ new.txt	2026-04-05 13:10:37
+@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
+-
+-n[@CuBYRF+w.Ul.jw]M)e=XYaAc
+)";
+    }
+
+    {
+        Patch::File file("target.txt", std::ios_base::out);
+        file << "\n"
+                "n[@CuBYRF+w.Ul.jw]M)e=XYaAc\n";
+    }
+
+    Process process(patch_path, { patch_path, "-i", "diff.patch", "target.txt", nullptr });
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(process.stdout_data(), "patching file target.txt\n");
+    EXPECT_EQ(process.stderr_data(), "");
+    EXPECT_EQ(process.return_code(), 0);
+    EXPECT_TRUE(Patch::filesystem::exists("target.txt"));
+    EXPECT_FILE_EQ("target.txt", "");
+}
+
 PATCH_TEST(git_patch_remove_file)
 {
     {
diff --git a/tests/test_parser.cpp b/tests/test_parser.cpp
index 839f7cf..383b21d 100644
--- a/tests/test_parser.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_parser.cpp
@@ -805,3 +805,24 @@ TEST(parser_malformed_range_line_fails)
         "+1\n");
     EXPECT_THROW(Patch::parse_patch(patch_file), std::runtime_error);
 }
+
+TEST(parser_unified_patch_that_empties_file_is_not_delete)
+{
+    Patch::File patch_file = Patch::File::create_temporary_with_content(R"(
+--- old.txt	2026-04-05 13:10:37
++++ new.txt	2026-04-05 13:10:37
+@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
+-
+-n[@CuBYRF+w.Ul.jw]M)e=XYaAc
+)");
+
+    auto patch = Patch::parse_patch(patch_file);
+    EXPECT_EQ(patch.operation, Patch::Operation::Change);
+    EXPECT_EQ(patch.old_file_path, "old.txt");
+    EXPECT_EQ(patch.new_file_path, "new.txt");
+    EXPECT_EQ(patch.hunks.size(), 1);
+    EXPECT_EQ(patch.hunks[0].old_file_range.start_line, 1);
+    EXPECT_EQ(patch.hunks[0].old_file_range.number_of_lines, 2);
+    EXPECT_EQ(patch.hunks[0].new_file_range.start_line, 0);
+    EXPECT_EQ(patch.hunks[0].new_file_range.number_of_lines, 0);
+}