diff --git a/rest_framework/fields.py b/rest_framework/fields.py
index 3ca7d682e..09eacd3a2 100644
--- a/rest_framework/fields.py
+++ b/rest_framework/fields.py
@@ -1274,7 +1274,7 @@ class ListField(Field):
         # We override the default field access in order to support
         # lists in HTML forms.
         if html.is_html_input(dictionary):
-            return html.parse_html_list(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name)
+            return html.parse_html_list(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name) or empty
         return dictionary.get(self.field_name, empty)
 
     def to_internal_value(self, data):
@@ -1311,7 +1311,7 @@ class DictField(Field):
         # We override the default field access in order to support
         # dictionaries in HTML forms.
         if html.is_html_input(dictionary):
-            return html.parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name)
+            return html.parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name) or empty
         return dictionary.get(self.field_name, empty)
 
     def to_internal_value(self, data):
diff --git a/rest_framework/serializers.py b/rest_framework/serializers.py
index 7afddfd82..1867de957 100644
--- a/rest_framework/serializers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/serializers.py
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ class Serializer(BaseSerializer):
         # We override the default field access in order to support
         # nested HTML forms.
         if html.is_html_input(dictionary):
-            return html.parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name)
+            return html.parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name) or empty
         return dictionary.get(self.field_name, empty)
 
     def run_validation(self, data=empty):
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ class ListSerializer(BaseSerializer):
         # We override the default field access in order to support
         # lists in HTML forms.
         if html.is_html_input(dictionary):
-            return html.parse_html_list(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name)
+            return html.parse_html_list(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name) or empty
         return dictionary.get(self.field_name, empty)
 
     def run_validation(self, data=empty):
diff --git a/tests/test_serializer_nested.py b/tests/test_serializer_nested.py
index f5e4b26ad..103f2588d 100644
--- a/tests/test_serializer_nested.py
+++ b/tests/test_serializer_nested.py
@@ -38,3 +38,70 @@ class TestNestedSerializer:
         }
         serializer = self.Serializer()
         assert serializer.data == expected_data
+
+
+class TestRequiredFalseNestedSerializer:
+    def setup(self):
+        class NestedSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
+            one = serializers.IntegerField(max_value=10)
+
+        class TestSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
+            nested = NestedSerializer(required=False)
+
+        self.Serializer = TestSerializer
+
+        class FakeMultiDict(dict):
+            """
+            Use this to fake a `format="multipart"` request, because
+            `utils.is_html_input()` returns `True` when the dict object has
+            an attribute of "getlist".
+            """
+            def getlist(self, value, default=None):
+                if value in self:
+                    return [self[value]]
+                else:
+                    return [] if default is None else default
+
+        self.FakeMultiDict = FakeMultiDict
+
+    def test_nested_json_validate(self):
+        input_data = {
+            'nested': {
+                'one': '1',
+            },
+        }
+        expected_data = {
+            'nested': {
+                'one': 1,
+            },
+        }
+        serializer = self.Serializer(data=input_data)
+        assert serializer.is_valid()
+        assert serializer.validated_data == expected_data
+
+    def test_missing_nested_json_validate(self):
+        input_data = {}
+        expected_data = {}
+        serializer = self.Serializer(data=input_data)
+        assert serializer.is_valid()
+        assert serializer.validated_data == expected_data
+
+    def test_nested_multipart_validate(self):
+        input_data = self.FakeMultiDict(**{
+            'nested.one': '1',
+        })
+        expected_data = {
+            'nested': {
+                'one': 1,
+            },
+        }
+        serializer = self.Serializer(data=input_data)
+        assert serializer.is_valid()
+        assert serializer.validated_data == expected_data
+
+    def test_missing_nested_multipart_validate(self):
+        input_data = self.FakeMultiDict()
+        expected_data = {}
+        serializer = self.Serializer(data=input_data)
+        assert serializer.is_valid()
+        assert serializer.validated_data == expected_data