diff --git a/rest_framework/request.py b/rest_framework/request.py
index 0a827728a..dc7e453f4 100644
--- a/rest_framework/request.py
+++ b/rest_framework/request.py
@@ -299,7 +299,10 @@ class Request(object):
             stream = None
 
         if stream is None or media_type is None:
-            empty_data = QueryDict('', encoding=self._request._encoding)
+            if media_type and not is_form_media_type(media_type):
+                empty_data = MultiValueDict()
+            else:
+                empty_data = {}
             empty_files = MultiValueDict()
             return (empty_data, empty_files)