diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionDefinition.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionDefinition.java
index e89234b..29e3e29 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionDefinition.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionDefinition.java
@@ -253,19 +253,20 @@
 
   /** Returns the evaluated default value for this option & memoizes the result. */
   public Object getDefaultValue() {
-    if (defaultValue != null || isSpecialNullDefault()) {
+    if (defaultValue != null) {
       return defaultValue;
     }
-    Converter<?> converter = getConverter();
-    String defaultValueAsString = getUnparsedDefaultValue();
-    boolean allowsMultiple = allowsMultiple();
     // If the option allows multiple values then we intentionally return the empty list as
     // the default value of this option since it is not always the case that an option
     // that allows multiple values will have a converter that returns a list value.
-    if (allowsMultiple) {
+    if (allowsMultiple()) {
       defaultValue = Collections.emptyList();
+    } else if (isSpecialNullDefault()) {
+      return null;
     } else {
       // Otherwise try to convert the default value using the converter
+      Converter<?> converter = getConverter();
+      String defaultValueAsString = getUnparsedDefaultValue();
       try {
         defaultValue = converter.convert(defaultValueAsString);
       } catch (OptionsParsingException e) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionDefinitionTest.java b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionDefinitionTest.java
index fc8985d..75f77b5 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionDefinitionTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionDefinitionTest.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import com.google.devtools.common.options.Converters.StringConverter;
 import com.google.devtools.common.options.OptionDefinition.NotAnOptionException;
 import com.google.devtools.common.options.OptionsParser.ConstructionException;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
@@ -174,4 +175,98 @@
     verify(mockOptionDef, times(1)).isSpecialNullDefault();
     verify(mockOptionDef, times(2)).getUnparsedDefaultValue();
   }
+
+  /** Dummy options class, to test defaultValue handling. */
+  private static class DefaultValueTestOptions extends OptionsBase {
+    @Option(
+        name = "null_non_multiple_option",
+        defaultValue = "null",
+        documentationCategory = OptionDocumentationCategory.UNCATEGORIZED,
+        effectTags = OptionEffectTag.NO_OP)
+    public String nullNonMultipleOption;
+
+    @Option(
+        name = "null_multiple_option",
+        allowMultiple = true,
+        defaultValue = "null",
+        documentationCategory = OptionDocumentationCategory.UNCATEGORIZED,
+        effectTags = OptionEffectTag.NO_OP)
+    public List<String> nullMultipleOption;
+
+    @Option(
+        name = "empty_string_multiple_option",
+        allowMultiple = true,
+        defaultValue = "",
+        documentationCategory = OptionDocumentationCategory.UNCATEGORIZED,
+        effectTags = OptionEffectTag.NO_OP)
+    public List<String> emptyStringMultipleOption;
+
+    @Option(
+        name = "non_empty_string_multiple_option",
+        allowMultiple = true,
+        defaultValue = "text",
+        documentationCategory = OptionDocumentationCategory.UNCATEGORIZED,
+        effectTags = OptionEffectTag.NO_OP)
+    public List<String> nonEmptyStringMultipleOption;
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void specialDefaultValueForNonMultipleOptionShouldResultInNull() throws Exception {
+    // arrange
+    OptionDefinition optionDef =
+        OptionDefinition.extractOptionDefinition(
+            DefaultValueTestOptions.class.getField("nullNonMultipleOption"));
+
+    // act
+    Object result = optionDef.getDefaultValue();
+
+    // assert
+    assertThat(result).isNull();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+  public void specialDefaultValueForMultipleOptionShouldResultInEmptyList() throws Exception {
+    // arrange
+    OptionDefinition optionDef =
+        OptionDefinition.extractOptionDefinition(
+            DefaultValueTestOptions.class.getField("nullMultipleOption"));
+
+    // act
+    List<String> result = (List<String>) optionDef.getDefaultValue();
+
+    // assert
+    assertThat(result).isEmpty();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+  public void emptyStringForMultipleOptionShouldResultInEmptyList() throws Exception {
+    // arrange
+    OptionDefinition optionDef =
+        OptionDefinition.extractOptionDefinition(
+            DefaultValueTestOptions.class.getField("emptyStringMultipleOption"));
+
+    // act
+    List<String> result = (List<String>) optionDef.getDefaultValue();
+
+    // assert
+    assertThat(result).isEmpty();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+  public void nonEmptyStringForMultipleOptionShouldResultInEmptyList() throws Exception {
+    // arrange
+    OptionDefinition optionDef =
+        OptionDefinition.extractOptionDefinition(
+            DefaultValueTestOptions.class.getField("nonEmptyStringMultipleOption"));
+
+    // act
+    List<String> result = (List<String>) optionDef.getDefaultValue();
+
+    // assert
+    // TODO(b/138573276): this is a legacy behavior - assert the value is actually converted
+    assertThat(result).isEmpty();
+  }
 }