diff --git a/src/android/InAppBrowser.java b/src/android/InAppBrowser.java
index 9b3388ced..e6309286d 100644
--- a/src/android/InAppBrowser.java
+++ b/src/android/InAppBrowser.java
@@ -1114,8 +1114,10 @@ else if (url.startsWith("sms:")) {
             // Test for whitelisted custom scheme names like mycoolapp:// or twitteroauthresponse:// (Twitter Oauth Response)
             else if (!url.startsWith("http:") && !url.startsWith("https:") && url.matches("^[a-z]*://.*?$")) {
                 if (allowedSchemes == null) {
-                    String allowed = preferences.getString("AllowedSchemes", "");
-                    allowedSchemes = allowed.split(",");
+                    String allowed = preferences.getString("AllowedSchemes", null);
+                    if(allowed != null) {
+                        allowedSchemes = allowed.split(",");
+                    }
                 }
                 if (allowedSchemes != null) {
                     for (String scheme : allowedSchemes) {