diff --git a/beets/dbcore/query.py b/beets/dbcore/query.py
index becd3470b..318a7fbe2 100644
--- a/beets/dbcore/query.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/query.py
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ class NumericQuery(FieldQuery):
             elif self.rangemax is not None:
                 return u'{0} <= ?'.format(self.field), (self.rangemax,)
             else:
-                return '1'
+                return '1', ()
 
 
 class CollectionQuery(Query):
diff --git a/test/test_query.py b/test/test_query.py
index b8c5faf18..d9b636527 100644
--- a/test/test_query.py
+++ b/test/test_query.py
@@ -261,7 +261,8 @@ class GetTest(DummyDataTestCase):
 
     def test_bad_year(self):
         q = 'year:delete from items'
-        self.assertRaises(ValueError, self.lib.items, q)
+        results = self.lib.items(q)
+        self.assert_matched(results, [])
 
     def test_singleton_true(self):
         q = 'singleton:true'
@@ -320,6 +321,11 @@ class GetTest(DummyDataTestCase):
         results = self.lib.items(q)
         self.assertFalse(results)
 
+    def test_numeric_empty(self):
+        q = dbcore.query.NumericQuery('year', '')
+        results = self.lib.items(q)
+        self.assertTrue(results)
+
 
 class MatchTest(_common.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):