diff --git a/src/zeep/wsdl/messages/soap.py b/src/zeep/wsdl/messages/soap.py
index 553bfa2c..041bcdc9 100644
--- a/src/zeep/wsdl/messages/soap.py
+++ b/src/zeep/wsdl/messages/soap.py
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
 
     def _deserialize_body(self, xmlelement):
 
-        if not self._is_body_wrapped:
+        if not self._is_body_wrapped and len(xmlelement):
             # TODO: For now we assume that the body only has one child since
             # only one part is specified in the wsdl. This should be handled
             # way better