diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/LaTeX.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/LaTeX.hs
index 02c7361d7..c965c65ce 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/LaTeX.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/LaTeX.hs
@@ -574,6 +574,7 @@ inline =  choice [ str
                  , ensureMath
                  , rawLaTeXInline'
                  , escapedChar
+                 , emptyGroup
                  , unescapedChar
                  , comment
                  ] <?> "inline"
@@ -677,6 +678,13 @@ escapedChar = do
   result <- escaped (oneOf specialChars)
   return $ if result == Str "\n" then Str " " else result
 
+emptyGroup :: GenParser Char st Inline
+emptyGroup = try $ do
+  char '{'
+  spaces
+  char '}'
+  return $ Str ""
+
 -- nonescaped special characters
 unescapedChar :: GenParser Char st Inline
 unescapedChar = oneOf "`$^&_#{}[]|<>" >>= return . (\c -> Str [c])