diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/infrastructure/item/file/transform/RecursiveCollectionLineAggregator.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/infrastructure/item/file/transform/RecursiveCollectionLineAggregator.java
index 4451364789..7184bfda2c 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/infrastructure/item/file/transform/RecursiveCollectionLineAggregator.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/infrastructure/item/file/transform/RecursiveCollectionLineAggregator.java
@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ public void setLineSeparator(String lineSeparator) {
 
 	@Override
 	public String aggregate(Collection<T> items) {
+		if (items.isEmpty()) {
+			return "";
+		}
 		StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
 		for (T value : items) {
 			builder.append(delegate.aggregate(value)).append(lineSeparator);
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/infrastructure/item/file/transform/RecursiveCollectionLineAggregatorTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/infrastructure/item/file/transform/RecursiveCollectionLineAggregatorTests.java
index a18e18fdf7..d656bcc1bb 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/infrastructure/item/file/transform/RecursiveCollectionLineAggregatorTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/infrastructure/item/file/transform/RecursiveCollectionLineAggregatorTests.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
-import org.springframework.batch.infrastructure.item.file.transform.RecursiveCollectionLineAggregator;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
@@ -34,6 +33,12 @@ class RecursiveCollectionLineAggregatorTests {
 
 	private final RecursiveCollectionLineAggregator<String> aggregator = new RecursiveCollectionLineAggregator<>();
 
+	@Test
+	void testSetDelegateAndPassEmptyCollection() {
+		aggregator.setDelegate(item -> "bar");
+		assertEquals("", aggregator.aggregate(Collections.emptyList()));
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	void testSetDelegateAndPassInString() {
 		aggregator.setDelegate(item -> "bar");