diff --git a/AppDataStorage.Test/AppDataTests.cs b/AppDataStorage.Test/AppDataTests.cs
index 675b40e..b147f03 100644
--- a/AppDataStorage.Test/AppDataTests.cs
+++ b/AppDataStorage.Test/AppDataTests.cs
@@ -366,6 +366,20 @@ public void TestLoadOrCreateHandlesCorruptFile()
 		Assert.AreEqual(string.Empty, appData.Data, "Data should be default if loaded from corrupt file.");
 	}
 
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void TestLoadOrCreateHandlesNullJsonFile()
+	{
+		AbsoluteFilePath filePath = TestAppData.Get().FilePath;
+		AppData.EnsureDirectoryExists(filePath);
+		AppData.FileSystem.File.WriteAllText(filePath, "null");
+
+		TestAppData appData = TestAppData.LoadOrCreate();
+
+		AssertAppDataNotNull(appData, "LoadOrCreate should recover if file deserializes to null.");
+		Assert.AreEqual(string.Empty, appData.Data, "Data should be default if loaded from a null json file.");
+		Assert.IsTrue(AppData.FileSystem.File.Exists(filePath), "Recovery should recreate a valid settings file.");
+	}
+
 	[TestMethod]
 	public async Task TestMultipleSavesOnlyWriteOnceWithinDebouncePeriod()
 	{
diff --git a/AppDataStorage/AppData.cs b/AppDataStorage/AppData.cs
index df19e06..9eeaa5f 100644
--- a/AppDataStorage/AppData.cs
+++ b/AppDataStorage/AppData.cs
@@ -515,7 +515,8 @@ public static T LoadOrCreate(RelativeDirectoryPath? subdirectory, FileName? file
 
 			try
 			{
-				newAppData = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<T>(jsonString, AppData.JsonSerializerOptions)!;
+				newAppData = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<T>(jsonString, AppData.JsonSerializerOptions)
+					?? throw new JsonException("Deserialized settings file to null.");
 				newAppData.Subdirectory = subdirectory;
 				newAppData.FileNameOverride = fileName;
 				return newAppData;