diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/ReferenceLookupDelegate.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/ReferenceLookupDelegate.java
index a0e5a6f2bb..088b27e70b 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/ReferenceLookupDelegate.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/ReferenceLookupDelegate.java
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ public ReferenceLookupDelegate(
 		}
 
 		if (!result.iterator().hasNext()) {
-			return null;
+			return property.isMap() ? Collections.emptyMap() : null;
 		}
 
 		Object resultValue = result.iterator().next();
diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/DefaultDbRefResolverUnitTests.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/DefaultDbRefResolverUnitTests.java
index 75c7cc4366..0add71d50e 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/DefaultDbRefResolverUnitTests.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/DefaultDbRefResolverUnitTests.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Map;
 
 import org.bson.Document;
 import org.bson.types.ObjectId;
@@ -35,6 +36,8 @@
 import org.mockito.quality.Strictness;
 
 import org.springframework.dao.InvalidDataAccessApiUsageException;
+import org.springframework.data.mapping.context.MappingContext;
+import org.springframework.data.mapping.model.SpELContext;
 import org.springframework.data.mongodb.MongoDatabaseFactory;
 import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.DocumentTestUtils;
 import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.MongoExceptionTranslator;
@@ -43,6 +46,9 @@
 import com.mongodb.client.FindIterable;
 import com.mongodb.client.MongoCollection;
 import com.mongodb.client.MongoDatabase;
+import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.mapping.DocumentReference;
+import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.mapping.MongoPersistentEntity;
+import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.mapping.MongoPersistentProperty;
 
 /**
  * Unit tests for {@link DefaultDbRefResolver}.
@@ -58,6 +64,8 @@ class DefaultDbRefResolverUnitTests {
 	@Mock MongoDatabase dbMock;
 	@Mock MongoCollection<Document> collectionMock;
 	@Mock FindIterable<Document> cursorMock;
+	@Mock MappingContext<? extends MongoPersistentEntity<?>, MongoPersistentProperty> mappingContext;
+	@Mock SpELContext spELContext;
 	private DefaultDbRefResolver resolver;
 
 	@BeforeEach
@@ -91,7 +99,7 @@ void bulkFetchShouldLoadDbRefsCorrectly() {
 	}
 
 	@Test // DATAMONGO-1194
-	void bulkFetchShouldThrowExceptionWhenUsingDifferntCollectionsWithinSetOfReferences() {
+	void bulkFetchShouldThrowExceptionWhenUsingDifferentCollectionsWithinSetOfReferences() {
 
 		DBRef ref1 = new DBRef("collection-1", new ObjectId());
 		DBRef ref2 = new DBRef("collection-2", new ObjectId());
@@ -134,4 +142,55 @@ void bulkFetchContainsDuplicates() {
 
 		assertThat(resolver.bulkFetch(Arrays.asList(ref1, ref2))).containsExactly(document, document);
 	}
+
+	@Test // GH-5065
+	void emptyMapWithDocumentReferenceAnnotationShouldDeserializeToAnEmptyMap() {
+		DocumentReference documentReference = mock(DocumentReference.class);
+		when(documentReference.lookup()).thenReturn("{ '_id' : ?#{#target} }");
+		when(documentReference.sort()).thenReturn("");
+		when(documentReference.lazy()).thenReturn(false);
+		MongoPersistentProperty property = mock(MongoPersistentProperty.class);
+		when(property.isCollectionLike()).thenReturn(false);
+		when(property.isMap()).thenReturn(true);
+		when(property.isDocumentReference()).thenReturn(true);
+		when(property.getDocumentReference()).thenReturn(documentReference);
+		DocumentReferenceSource source = mock(DocumentReferenceSource.class);
+		when(source.getTargetSource()).thenReturn(Document.parse("{}"));
+		ReferenceLookupDelegate lookupDelegate = new ReferenceLookupDelegate(mappingContext, spELContext);
+
+		ReferenceResolver.MongoEntityReader entityReader = mock(ReferenceResolver.MongoEntityReader.class);
+
+		Object target = resolver.resolveReference(property, source, lookupDelegate, entityReader);
+
+		assertThat(target)
+				.isNotNull()
+				.isInstanceOf(Map.class);
+	}
+
+	@Test // GH-5065
+	void lazyLoadedEmptyMapWithDocumentReferenceAnnotationShouldDeserializeToAnEmptyMapWithANonnullValuesProperty() {
+		DocumentReference documentReference = mock(DocumentReference.class);
+		when(documentReference.lookup()).thenReturn("{ '_id' : ?#{#target} }");
+		when(documentReference.sort()).thenReturn("");
+		when(documentReference.lazy()).thenReturn(true);
+		MongoPersistentProperty property = mock(MongoPersistentProperty.class);
+		when(property.isCollectionLike()).thenReturn(false);
+		when(property.isMap()).thenReturn(true);
+		when(property.isDocumentReference()).thenReturn(true);
+		when(property.getDocumentReference()).thenReturn(documentReference);
+        //noinspection rawtypes,unchecked
+        when(property.getType()).thenReturn((Class) Map.class);
+		DocumentReferenceSource source = mock(DocumentReferenceSource.class);
+		when(source.getTargetSource()).thenReturn(Document.parse("{}"));
+		ReferenceLookupDelegate lookupDelegate = new ReferenceLookupDelegate(mappingContext, spELContext);
+
+		ReferenceResolver.MongoEntityReader entityReader = mock(ReferenceResolver.MongoEntityReader.class);
+
+		Object target = resolver.resolveReference(property, source, lookupDelegate, entityReader);
+
+		assertThat(target)
+				.isNotNull()
+				.isInstanceOf(Map.class)
+				.asInstanceOf(MAP).values().isNotNull();
+	}
 }
diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/MappingMongoConverterTests.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/MappingMongoConverterTests.java
index be8dbced9e..696acd69f5 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/MappingMongoConverterTests.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/MappingMongoConverterTests.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 
 import org.bson.Document;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Nested;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 import org.springframework.data.annotation.Id;
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@
 import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.SimpleMongoClientDatabaseFactory;
 import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.convert.MongoCustomConversions.MongoConverterConfigurationAdapter;
 import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.mapping.DBRef;
+import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.mapping.DocumentReference;
 import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.mapping.MongoMappingContext;
 import org.springframework.data.mongodb.test.util.Client;
 
@@ -54,13 +56,13 @@
  * @author Christoph Strobl
  */
 
-public class MappingMongoConverterTests {
+class MappingMongoConverterTests {
 
 	private static final String DATABASE = "mapping-converter-tests";
 
 	private static @Client MongoClient client;
 
-	private MongoDatabaseFactory factory = new SimpleMongoClientDatabaseFactory(client, DATABASE);
+	private final MongoDatabaseFactory factory = new SimpleMongoClientDatabaseFactory(client, DATABASE);
 
 	private MappingMongoConverter converter;
 	private MongoMappingContext mappingContext;
@@ -478,4 +480,478 @@ public String toString() {
 					+ ", localTime=" + this.getLocalTime() + ", localDateTime=" + this.getLocalDateTime() + ")";
 		}
 	}
+
+	@Nested // GH-5065
+	class EmptyMapTests {
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void controlTestToIllustrateThatTheEmptyMapProblemIsLimitedToDocumentReferencesAndNotAMoreGenericProblem() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":{}}");
+			//EmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(EmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(converter.read(EmptyMapDocument.class, document).map).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+			assertThat(converter.read(EmptyMapDocument.class, document).getMap()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void controlTestToIllustrateThatTheNullMapProblemIsLimitedToDocumentReferencesAndNotAMoreGenericProblem() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":null}");
+			//EmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(EmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(converter.read(EmptyMapDocument.class, document).map).isNull();
+			assertThat(converter.read(EmptyMapDocument.class, document).getMap()).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyMapWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":{}}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.map).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyMapWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationUsingGetMap() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":{}}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getMap()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullMapWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":null}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.map).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullMapWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationUsingGetMap() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":null}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getMap()).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyMapWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationWithLazyEqualToTrue() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":{}}");
+			LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.map).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyMapWithAValidValuesPropertyWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationWithLazyEqualToTrue() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":{}}");
+			LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.map.values()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyMapWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationWithLazyEqualToTrueUsingGetMap() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":{}}");
+			LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getMap()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyMapWithAValidValuesPropertyWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationWithLazyEqualToTrueUsingGetMap() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":{}}");
+			LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getMap().values()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyMapWhenUsingDBRefAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":{}}");
+			DBRefEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.map).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyMapWhenUsingDBRefAnnotationUsingGetMap() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":{}}");
+			DBRefEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getMap()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullMapWhenUsingDBRefAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":null}");
+			DBRefEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.map).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullMapWhenUsingDBRefAnnotationUsingGetMap() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"map\":null}");
+			DBRefEmptyMapDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptyMapDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getMap()).isNull();
+		}
+
+		static class EmptyMapDocument {
+
+			Map<String, String> map;
+
+			public EmptyMapDocument(Map<String, String> map) {
+				this.map = map;
+			}
+
+			Map<String, String> getMap() {
+				return map;
+			}
+		}
+
+		static class DocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument {
+
+			@DocumentReference
+			Map<String, String> map;
+
+			public DocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument(Map<String, String> map) {
+				this.map = map;
+			}
+
+			Map<String, String> getMap() {
+				return map;
+			}
+		}
+
+		static class LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument {
+
+			@DocumentReference(lazy = true)
+			Map<String, String> map;
+
+			public LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyMapDocument(Map<String, String> map) {
+				this.map = map;
+			}
+
+			Map<String, String> getMap() {
+				return map;
+			}
+		}
+
+		static class DBRefEmptyMapDocument {
+
+			@DBRef
+			Map<String, String> map;
+
+			public DBRefEmptyMapDocument(Map<String, String> map) {
+				this.map = map;
+			}
+
+			Map<String, String> getMap() {
+				return map;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Nested // GH-5065
+	class EmptyListTests {
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void controlTestToIllustrateThatTheEmptyListProblemIsLimitedToDocumentReferencesAndNotAMoreGenericProblem() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":[]}");
+			EmptyListDocument target = converter.read(EmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.list).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void controlTestToIllustrateThatTheEmptyListProblemIsLimitedToDocumentReferencesAndNotAMoreGenericProblemUsingGetList() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":[]}");
+			EmptyListDocument target = converter.read(EmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getList()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void controlTestToIllustrateThatTheNullListProblemIsLimitedToDocumentReferencesAndNotAMoreGenericProblem() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":null}");
+			EmptyListDocument target = converter.read(EmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.list).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void controlTestToIllustrateThatTheNullListProblemIsLimitedToDocumentReferencesAndNotAMoreGenericProblemUsingGetList() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":null}");
+			EmptyListDocument target = converter.read(EmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getList()).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyListWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":[]}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.list).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyListWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationUsingGetList() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":[]}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getList()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullListWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":null}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.list).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullListWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationUsingGetList() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":null}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getList()).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyListWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationWithLazyEqualToTrue() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":[]}");
+			LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument target = converter.read(LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.list).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyListWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationWithLazyEqualToTrueUsingGetList() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":[]}");
+			LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument target = converter.read(LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getList()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyListWhenUsingDBRefAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":[]}");
+			DBRefEmptyListDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.list).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptyListWhenUsingDBRefAnnotationUsingGetList() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":[]}");
+			DBRefEmptyListDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getList()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullListWhenUsingDBRefAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":null}");
+			DBRefEmptyListDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.list).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullListWhenUsingDBRefAnnotationUsingGetList() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"list\":null}");
+			DBRefEmptyListDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptyListDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getList()).isNull();
+		}
+
+		static class EmptyListDocument {
+
+			List<String> list;
+
+			public EmptyListDocument(List<String> list) {
+				this.list = list;
+			}
+
+			List<String> getList() {
+				return list;
+			}
+		}
+
+		static class DocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument {
+
+			@DocumentReference
+			List<String> list;
+
+			public DocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument(List<String> list) {
+				this.list = list;
+			}
+
+			List<String> getList() {
+				return list;
+			}
+		}
+
+		static class LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument {
+
+			@DocumentReference(lazy = true)
+			List<String> list;
+
+			public LazyDocumentReferenceEmptyListDocument(List<String> list) {
+				this.list = list;
+			}
+
+			List<String> getList() {
+				return list;
+			}
+		}
+
+		static class DBRefEmptyListDocument {
+
+			@DBRef
+			List<String> list;
+
+			public DBRefEmptyListDocument(List<String> list) {
+				this.list = list;
+			}
+
+			List<String> getList() {
+				return list;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Nested // GH-5065
+	class EmptySetTests {
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void controlTestToIllustrateThatTheEmptySetProblemIsLimitedToDocumentReferencesAndNotAMoreGenericProblem() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":[]}");
+			EmptySetDocument target = converter.read(EmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.set).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void controlTestToIllustrateThatTheEmptySetProblemIsLimitedToDocumentReferencesAndNotAMoreGenericProblemUsingGetSet() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":[]}");
+			EmptySetDocument target = converter.read(EmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getSet()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void controlTestToIllustrateThatTheNullSetProblemIsLimitedToDocumentReferencesAndNotAMoreGenericProblem() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":null}");
+			EmptySetDocument target = converter.read(EmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.set).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void controlTestToIllustrateThatTheNullSetProblemIsLimitedToDocumentReferencesAndNotAMoreGenericProblemUsingGetSet() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":null}");
+			EmptySetDocument target = converter.read(EmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getSet()).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptySetWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":[]}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.set).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptySetWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationUsingGetSet() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":[]}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getSet()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullSetWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":null}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.set).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullSetWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationUsingGetSet() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":null}");
+			DocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument target = converter.read(DocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getSet()).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptySetWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationWithLazyEqualToTrue() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":[]}");
+			LazyDocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument target = converter.read(LazyDocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.set).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptySetWhenUsingDocumentReferenceAnnotationWithLazyEqualToTrueUsingGetSet() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":[]}");
+			LazyDocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument target = converter.read(LazyDocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getSet()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptySetWhenUsingDBRefAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":[]}");
+			DBRefEmptySetDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.set).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnEmptyObjectAsAnEmptySetWhenUsingDBRefAnnotationUsingGetSet() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":[]}");
+			DBRefEmptySetDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getSet()).isNotNull().isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullSetWhenUsingDBRefAnnotation() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":null}");
+			DBRefEmptySetDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.set).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test // GH-5065
+		void converterShouldReadAnExplicitlyAssignedNullAsANullSetWhenUsingDBRefAnnotationUsingGetSet() {
+			org.bson.Document document = org.bson.Document.parse("{\"set\":null}");
+			DBRefEmptySetDocument target = converter.read(DBRefEmptySetDocument.class, document);
+			assertThat(target.getSet()).isNull();
+		}
+
+		static class EmptySetDocument {
+
+			Set<String> set;
+
+			public EmptySetDocument(Set<String> set) {
+				this.set = set;
+			}
+
+			Set<String> getSet() {
+				return set;
+			}
+		}
+
+		static class DocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument {
+
+			@DocumentReference
+			Set<String> set;
+
+			public DocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument(Set<String> set) {
+				this.set = set;
+			}
+
+			Set<String> getSet() {
+				return set;
+			}
+		}
+
+		static class LazyDocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument {
+
+			@DocumentReference(lazy = true)
+			Set<String> set;
+
+			public LazyDocumentReferenceEmptySetDocument(Set<String> set) {
+				this.set = set;
+			}
+
+			Set<String> getSet() {
+				return set;
+			}
+		}
+
+		static class DBRefEmptySetDocument {
+
+			@DBRef
+			Set<String> set;
+
+			public DBRefEmptySetDocument(Set<String> set) {
+				this.set = set;
+			}
+
+			Set<String> getSet() {
+				return set;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/ReferenceLookupDelegateUnitTests.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/ReferenceLookupDelegateUnitTests.java
index 384cffaad4..a1eecab673 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/ReferenceLookupDelegateUnitTests.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/convert/ReferenceLookupDelegateUnitTests.java
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
 
 import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Map;
 
+import org.bson.Document;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;
@@ -31,7 +33,6 @@
 import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.mapping.DocumentReference;
 import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.mapping.MongoPersistentEntity;
 import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.mapping.MongoPersistentProperty;
-import org.springframework.expression.EvaluationContext;
 
 /**
  * Unit tests for {@link ReferenceLookupDelegate}.
@@ -43,7 +44,6 @@ class ReferenceLookupDelegateUnitTests {
 
 	@Mock MappingContext<? extends MongoPersistentEntity<?>, MongoPersistentProperty> mappingContext;
 	@Mock SpELContext spELContext;
-	@Mock EvaluationContext evaluationContext;
 	@Mock MongoEntityReader entityReader;
 
 	private ReferenceLookupDelegate lookupDelegate;
@@ -94,4 +94,28 @@ void shouldResolveEmptyMapOnEmptyTargetCollection() {
 		lookupDelegate.readReference(property, Collections.emptyMap(), lookupFunction, entityReader);
 		verify(lookupFunction, never()).apply(any(), any());
 	}
+
+	@Test // GH-5065
+	void emptyMapWithDocumentReferenceAnnotationShouldDeserializeToAnEmptyMap() {
+		DocumentReference documentReference = mock(DocumentReference.class);
+		when(documentReference.lookup()).thenReturn("{ '_id' : ?#{#target} }");
+		when(documentReference.sort()).thenReturn("");
+		MongoPersistentProperty property = mock(MongoPersistentProperty.class);
+		when(property.isMap()).thenReturn(true);
+		when(property.isDocumentReference()).thenReturn(true);
+		when(property.getDocumentReference()).thenReturn(documentReference);
+		when(property.isCollectionLike()).thenReturn(false);
+		DocumentReferenceSource source = mock(DocumentReferenceSource.class);
+		when(source.getTargetSource()).thenReturn(Document.parse("{}"));
+
+		// Placeholder mock.  It should never get called.
+		ReferenceLookupDelegate.LookupFunction lookupFunction = mock(ReferenceLookupDelegate.LookupFunction.class);
+
+		Object target = lookupDelegate.readReference(property, source, lookupFunction, entityReader);
+
+		assertThat(target)
+				.isNotNull()
+				.isInstanceOf(Map.class);
+	}
+
 }