diff --git a/wled00/cfg.cpp b/wled00/cfg.cpp
index 653da685c9..e8e75ca91d 100644
--- a/wled00/cfg.cpp
+++ b/wled00/cfg.cpp
@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@ void deserializeConfigFromFS() {
   DEBUG_PRINTLN(F("Reading settings from /cfg.json..."));
 
   success = readObjectFromFile("/cfg.json", nullptr, &doc);
-  if (!success) { // if file does not exist, optionally try reading from EEPROM and then save defaults to FS
+  if (!success || doc.size() == 0) { // if file does not exist or contains only empty JSON (e.g. "{}"), try reading from EEPROM (if supported) and then save defaults to FS
     releaseJSONBufferLock();
     #ifdef WLED_ADD_EEPROM_SUPPORT
     deEEPSettings();
@@ -1122,7 +1122,7 @@ bool deserializeConfigSec() {
   if (!requestJSONBufferLock(3)) return false;
 
   bool success = readObjectFromFile("/wsec.json", nullptr, &doc);
-  if (!success) {
+  if (!success || doc.size() == 0) { // treat empty JSON (e.g. "{}") the same as a missing file
     releaseJSONBufferLock();
     return false;
   }
diff --git a/wled00/file.cpp b/wled00/file.cpp
index 56af35cc75..2480f110b4 100644
--- a/wled00/file.cpp
+++ b/wled00/file.cpp
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ bool appendObjectToFile(const char* key, JsonDocument* content, uint32_t s, uint
   uint32_t pos = 0;
   if (!f) return false;
 
-  if (f.size() < 3) {
+  if (f.size() < 4) { // file uninitialized -> write minimal skeleton
     char init[12];
     strcpy_P(init, PSTR("{\"0\":{}}"));
     f.print(init);
diff --git a/wled00/presets.cpp b/wled00/presets.cpp
index 4d118f196b..35436018d9 100644
--- a/wled00/presets.cpp
+++ b/wled00/presets.cpp
@@ -123,7 +123,15 @@ bool getPresetName(byte index, String& name)
 
 void initPresetsFile()
 {
-  if (WLED_FS.exists(getFileName())) return;
+  if (WLED_FS.exists(getFileName())) {
+    // treat an empty JSON file (e.g. "{}", "{ }") the same as a missing file:
+    // f.size() < 4 is the same threshold used in appendObjectToFile() to detect an uninitialized file
+    File f = WLED_FS.open(getFileName(), "r");
+    bool empty = f && f.size() < 4;             // file does exist due to previous "if"
+    if (f) f.close();
+    if (empty) WLED_FS.remove(getFileName());   // remove the empty file so it can be recreated below
+    else return;                                // file not empty -> keep (nothing to init)
+  }
 
   StaticJsonDocument<64> doc;
   JsonObject sObj = doc.to<JsonObject>();