diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Config.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Config.php
index 0748b76..a749a4b 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Config.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Config.php
@@ -20,6 +20,13 @@ class Config {
   protected $name;
 
   /**
+   * Whether the configuration object is new or has been saved to the storage.
+   *
+   * @var bool
+   */
+  protected $isNew = TRUE;
+
+  /**
    * The data of the configuration object.
    *
    * @var array
@@ -60,6 +67,13 @@ class Config {
   }
 
   /**
+   * Returns whether this configuration object is new.
+   */
+  public function isNew() {
+    return $this->isNew;
+  }
+
+  /**
    * Gets data from this config object.
    *
    * @param $key
@@ -208,9 +222,13 @@ class Config {
    * Loads configuration data into this object.
    */
   public function load() {
-    $this->setData(array());
     $data = $this->storageDispatcher->selectStorage('read', $this->name)->read($this->name);
-    if ($data !== FALSE) {
+    if ($data === FALSE) {
+      $this->isNew = TRUE;
+      $this->setData(array());
+    }
+    else {
+      $this->isNew = FALSE;
       $this->setData($data);
     }
     return $this;
@@ -222,6 +240,7 @@ class Config {
   public function save() {
     $this->sortByKey($this->data);
     $this->storageDispatcher->selectStorage('write', $this->name)->write($this->name, $this->data);
+    $this->isNew = FALSE;
     return $this;
   }
 
@@ -251,6 +270,7 @@ class Config {
   public function delete() {
     $this->data = array();
     $this->storageDispatcher->selectStorage('write', $this->name)->delete($this->name);
+    $this->isNew = TRUE;
     return $this;
   }
 }
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/DatabaseStorage.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/DatabaseStorage.php
index 1dd8507..f30011c 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/DatabaseStorage.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/DatabaseStorage.php
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class DatabaseStorage implements StorageInterface {
    *   Only thrown in case $this->options['throw_exception'] is TRUE.
    */
   public function read($name) {
-    $data = array();
+    $data = FALSE;
     // There are situations, like in the installer, where we may attempt a
     // read without actually having the database available. In this case,
     // catch the exception and just return an empty array so the caller can
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ class DatabaseStorage implements StorageInterface {
    */
   public static function decode($raw) {
     $data = @unserialize($raw);
-    return $data !== FALSE ? $data : array();
+    return is_array($data) ? $data : FALSE;
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/FileStorage.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/FileStorage.php
index 7827dc0..033555d 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/FileStorage.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/FileStorage.php
@@ -70,19 +70,12 @@ class FileStorage implements StorageInterface {
    */
   public function read($name) {
     if (!$this->exists($name)) {
-      return array();
+      return FALSE;
     }
     $data = file_get_contents($this->getFilePath($name));
     // @todo Yaml throws a ParseException on invalid data. Is it expected to be
     //   caught or not?
     $data = $this->decode($data);
-    if ($data === FALSE) {
-      return array();
-    }
-    // A simple string is valid YAML for any reason.
-    if (!is_array($data)) {
-      return array();
-    }
     return $data;
   }
 
@@ -131,10 +124,12 @@ class FileStorage implements StorageInterface {
    * @throws Symfony\Component\Yaml\Exception\ParseException
    */
   public static function decode($raw) {
-    if (empty($raw)) {
-      return array();
+    $data = Yaml::parse($raw);
+    // A simple string is valid YAML for any reason.
+    if (!is_array($data)) {
+      return FALSE;
     }
-    return Yaml::parse($raw);
+    return $data;
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/StorageInterface.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/StorageInterface.php
index 907e884..806ee87 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/StorageInterface.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/StorageInterface.php
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ interface StorageInterface {
    * @param string $name
    *   The name of a configuration object to load.
    *
-   * @return array
+   * @return array|bool
    *   The configuration data stored for the configuration object name. If no
-   *   configuration data exists for the given name, an empty array is returned.
+   *   configuration data exists for the given name, FALSE is returned.
    */
   public function read($name);
 
diff --git a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigCRUDTest.php b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigCRUDTest.php
index aeca024..37aa854 100644
--- a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigCRUDTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigCRUDTest.php
@@ -29,10 +29,13 @@ class ConfigCRUDTest extends WebTestBase {
     $storage = new DatabaseStorage();
     $name = 'config_test.crud';
 
-    // Create a new configuration object.
     $config = config($name);
+    $this->assertIdentical($config->isNew(), TRUE);
+
+    // Create a new configuration object.
     $config->set('value', 'initial');
     $config->save();
+    $this->assertIdentical($config->isNew(), FALSE);
 
     // Verify the active store contains the saved value.
     $actual_data = $storage->read($name);
@@ -41,6 +44,7 @@ class ConfigCRUDTest extends WebTestBase {
     // Update the configuration object instance.
     $config->set('value', 'instance-update');
     $config->save();
+    $this->assertIdentical($config->isNew(), FALSE);
 
     // Verify the active store contains the updated value.
     $actual_data = $storage->read($name);
@@ -49,24 +53,28 @@ class ConfigCRUDTest extends WebTestBase {
     // Verify a call to config() immediately returns the updated value.
     $new_config = config($name);
     $this->assertIdentical($new_config->get(), $config->get());
+    $this->assertIdentical($config->isNew(), FALSE);
 
     // Delete the configuration object.
     $config->delete();
 
     // Verify the configuration object is empty.
     $this->assertIdentical($config->get(), array());
+    $this->assertIdentical($config->isNew(), TRUE);
 
     // Verify the active store contains no value.
     $actual_data = $storage->read($name);
-    $this->assertIdentical($actual_data, array());
+    $this->assertIdentical($actual_data, FALSE);
 
     // Verify config() returns no data.
     $new_config = config($name);
     $this->assertIdentical($new_config->get(), $config->get());
+    $this->assertIdentical($config->isNew(), TRUE);
 
     // Re-create the configuration object.
     $config->set('value', 're-created');
     $config->save();
+    $this->assertIdentical($config->isNew(), FALSE);
 
     // Verify the active store contains the updated value.
     $actual_data = $storage->read($name);
@@ -75,6 +83,7 @@ class ConfigCRUDTest extends WebTestBase {
     // Verify a call to config() immediately returns the updated value.
     $new_config = config($name);
     $this->assertIdentical($new_config->get(), $config->get());
+    $this->assertIdentical($config->isNew(), FALSE);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigFileContentTest.php b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigFileContentTest.php
index 3add6d8..abbd2ae 100644
--- a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigFileContentTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigFileContentTest.php
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ class ConfigFileContentTest extends WebTestBase {
 
     // Verify nothing was saved.
     $db_data = $database_storage->read($name);
-    $this->assertIdentical($db_data, array());
+    $this->assertIdentical($db_data, FALSE);
 
     // Add a top level value
     $config = config($name);
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ class ConfigFileContentTest extends WebTestBase {
 
     // Verify the database entry no longer exists.
     $db_data = $database_storage->read($name);
-    $this->assertIdentical($db_data, array());
+    $this->assertIdentical($db_data, FALSE);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/Storage/ConfigStorageTestBase.php b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/Storage/ConfigStorageTestBase.php
index 3e6b254..2dbc627 100644
--- a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/Storage/ConfigStorageTestBase.php
+++ b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/Storage/ConfigStorageTestBase.php
@@ -32,18 +32,18 @@ abstract class ConfigStorageTestBase extends WebTestBase {
   function testCRUD() {
     $name = 'config_test.storage';
 
-    // Reading a non-existing name returns an empty data array.
+    // Reading a non-existing name returns FALSE.
     $data = $this->storage->read($name);
-    $this->assertIdentical($data, array());
+    $this->assertIdentical($data, FALSE);
 
-    // Reading a name containing non-decodeable data returns an empty array.
+    // Reading a name containing non-decodeable data returns FALSE.
     $this->insert($name, '');
     $data = $this->storage->read($name);
-    $this->assertIdentical($data, array());
+    $this->assertIdentical($data, FALSE);
 
     $this->update($name, 'foo');
     $data = $this->storage->read($name);
-    $this->assertIdentical($data, array());
+    $this->assertIdentical($data, FALSE);
 
     $this->delete($name);
 
@@ -76,9 +76,9 @@ abstract class ConfigStorageTestBase extends WebTestBase {
     $result = $this->storage->delete($name);
     $this->assertIdentical($result, FALSE);
 
-    // Reading from a non-existing storage bin returns an empty data array.
+    // Reading from a non-existing storage bin returns FALSE.
     $data = $this->invalidStorage->read($name);
-    $this->assertIdentical($data, array());
+    $this->assertIdentical($data, FALSE);
 
     // Writing to a non-existing storage bin throws an exception.
     try {
diff --git a/core/modules/image/image.module b/core/modules/image/image.module
index f3bf83d..79fdc88 100644
--- a/core/modules/image/image.module
+++ b/core/modules/image/image.module
@@ -548,13 +548,11 @@ function image_styles() {
  * @see image_effect_load()
  */
 function image_style_load($name) {
-  $style = config('image.style.' . $name)->get();
-
-  // @todo Requires a more reliable + generic method to check for whether the
-  //   configuration object exists.
-  if (!isset($style['name'])) {
+  $config = config('image.style.' . $name);
+  if ($config->isNew()) {
     return FALSE;
   }
+  $style = $config->get();
 
   if (!empty($style['effects'])) {
     foreach ($style['effects'] as $ieid => $effect) {