diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeaders.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeaders.java
index d966c245c22b02eeff62c56d43823304339c7395..20ce83d5ad3a982e148776ab7c1c4d9b7de58224 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeaders.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeaders.java
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * @author Brian Clozel
  * @author Juergen Hoeller
  * @author Josh Long
+ * @author Sam Brannen
  * @since 3.0
  */
 public class HttpHeaders implements MultiValueMap<String, String>, Serializable {
@@ -437,6 +438,17 @@ public class HttpHeaders implements MultiValueMap<String, String>, Serializable
 	}
 
 
+	/**
+	 * Get the list of header values for the given header name, if any.
+	 * @param headerName the header name
+	 * @return the list of header values, or an empty list
+	 * @since 5.2
+	 */
+	public List<String> getOrEmpty(Object headerName) {
+		List<String> values = get(headerName);
+		return (values != null ? values : Collections.emptyList());
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Set the list of acceptable {@linkplain MediaType media types},
 	 * as specified by the {@code Accept} header.
diff --git a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeadersTests.java b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeadersTests.java
index 8f2338d0e38a69e9315e4ab5b5aab90b78dc83bf..3d9f6e6ce58fb992338a884e8c6f89c72f54bd24 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeadersTests.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeadersTests.java
@@ -39,8 +39,10 @@ import org.junit.Test;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatIllegalArgumentException;
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.contains;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.empty;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.emptyCollectionOf;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.nullValue;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
@@ -61,6 +63,21 @@ public class HttpHeadersTests {
 	private final HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
 
 
+	@Test
+	public void getOrEmpty() {
+		String key = "FOO";
+
+		assertThat(headers.get(key), is(nullValue()));
+		assertThat(headers.getOrEmpty(key), is(empty()));
+
+		headers.add(key, "bar");
+		assertThat(headers.getOrEmpty(key), is(Arrays.asList("bar")));
+
+		headers.remove(key);
+		assertThat(headers.get(key), is(nullValue()));
+		assertThat(headers.getOrEmpty(key), is(empty()));
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void getFirst() {
 		headers.add(HttpHeaders.CACHE_CONTROL, "max-age=1000, public");