diff --git a/includes/webform.submissions.inc b/includes/webform.submissions.inc
index a145b13..ae2c28a 100644
--- a/includes/webform.submissions.inc
+++ b/includes/webform.submissions.inc
@@ -638,7 +638,7 @@ function webform_submission_render($node, $submission, $email, $format, $exclude
     foreach ($excluded_components as $cid) {
       unset($components[$cid]);
     }
-    if ($email && $email['exclude_empty']) {
+    if ($email && (array_key_exists('exclude_empty',$email) && $email['exclude_empty'])) {
       foreach ($submission->data as $cid => $data) {
         if (!isset($data[0]) || $data[0] == '') {
           unset($components[$cid]);