diff --git a/packages/insomnia-app/app/templating/__tests__/utils.test.ts b/packages/insomnia-app/app/templating/__tests__/utils.test.ts
index 5b763d56cb..628452e08c 100644
--- a/packages/insomnia-app/app/templating/__tests__/utils.test.ts
+++ b/packages/insomnia-app/app/templating/__tests__/utils.test.ts
@@ -300,9 +300,8 @@ describe('encodeEncoding()', () => {
   it('encodes things', () => {
     expect(utils.encodeEncoding('hello', 'base64')).toBe('b64::aGVsbG8=::46b');
     expect(utils.encodeEncoding(null, 'base64')).toBe(null);
-    expect(utils.encodeEncoding('hello', 'unknown')).toBe('hello');
     expect(utils.encodeEncoding('hello')).toBe('hello');
-    expect(utils.encodeEncoding('hello', 'utf8')).toBe('hello');
+    expect(utils.encodeEncoding('', 'base64')).toBe('');
   });
 });
 
@@ -314,5 +313,6 @@ describe('decodeEncoding()', () => {
     expect(utils.decodeEncoding('aGVsbG8=')).toBe('aGVsbG8=');
     expect(utils.decodeEncoding('hello')).toBe('hello');
     expect(utils.decodeEncoding(null)).toBe(null);
+    expect(utils.decodeEncoding('')).toBe('');
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/insomnia-app/app/templating/utils.ts b/packages/insomnia-app/app/templating/utils.ts
index ef532bb7d9..2f6a2bab6a 100644
--- a/packages/insomnia-app/app/templating/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/insomnia-app/app/templating/utils.ts
@@ -246,11 +246,15 @@ export function getDefaultFill(name: string, args: NunjucksParsedTagArg[]) {
   return `${name} ${stringArgs.join(', ')}`;
 }
 
-export function encodeEncoding(value: string, encoding: 'base64') {
+export function encodeEncoding<T>(value: T, encoding?: 'base64') {
   if (typeof value !== 'string') {
     return value;
   }
 
+  if (value.length === 0) {
+    return value;
+  }
+
   if (encoding === 'base64') {
     const encodedValue = Buffer.from(value, 'utf8').toString('base64');
     return `b64::${encodedValue}::46b`;
@@ -259,7 +263,7 @@ export function encodeEncoding(value: string, encoding: 'base64') {
   return value;
 }
 
-export function decodeEncoding(value: string) {
+export function decodeEncoding<T>(value: T) {
   if (typeof value !== 'string') {
     return value;
   }