diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index a95fff266..7c6f2e89b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ Next Release (TBD)
 * Fix issue where ``api_gateway_stage`` was being
   ignored when set in the ``config.json`` file
   (`#495 <https://github.com/aws/chalice/issues/495>`__)
+* Fix bug where ``raw_body`` would raise an exception if no HTTP
+  body was provided
+  (`#503 <https://github.com/aws/chalice/issues/503>`__)
 
 
 1.0.1
diff --git a/chalice/app.py b/chalice/app.py
index 13090c86e..3e5b3f6a2 100644
--- a/chalice/app.py
+++ b/chalice/app.py
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ def _base64decode(self, encoded):
 
     @property
     def raw_body(self):
-        if self._raw_body is None:
+        if self._raw_body is None and self._body is not None:
             if self._is_base64_encoded:
                 self._raw_body = self._base64decode(self._body)
             elif not isinstance(self._body, bytes):
diff --git a/chalice/local.py b/chalice/local.py
index 7e0b04e4f..43b636608 100644
--- a/chalice/local.py
+++ b/chalice/local.py
@@ -99,9 +99,7 @@ def create_lambda_event(self, method, path, headers, body=None):
             'pathParameters': view_route.captured,
             'stageVariables': {},
         }
-        if body is None:
-            event['body'] = '{}'
-        elif self._is_binary(headers):
+        if self._is_binary(headers) and body is not None:
             event['body'] = base64.b64encode(body).decode('ascii')
             event['isBase64Encoded'] = True
         else:
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_features.py b/tests/integration/test_features.py
index 3caa80924..5f3bd10a5 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_features.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_features.py
@@ -406,6 +406,13 @@ def test_can_use_shared_auth(smoke_test_app):
     assert context['authorizer']['foo'] == 'bar'
 
 
+def test_empty_raw_body(smoke_test_app):
+    url = smoke_test_app.url + '/repr-raw-body'
+    response = requests.post(url)
+    response.raise_for_status()
+    assert response.json() == {'repr-raw-body': 'None'}
+
+
 @pytest.mark.on_redeploy
 def test_redeploy_no_change_view(smoke_test_app):
     smoke_test_app.redeploy_once()
diff --git a/tests/integration/testapp/app.py b/tests/integration/testapp/app.py
index d12205acf..75e03b208 100644
--- a/tests/integration/testapp/app.py
+++ b/tests/integration/testapp/app.py
@@ -180,3 +180,8 @@ def fake_profile_read_only():
            methods=['POST'])
 def fake_profile_post():
     return {'success': True, 'context': app.current_request.context}
+
+
+@app.route('/repr-raw-body', methods=['POST'])
+def repr_raw_body():
+    return {'repr-raw-body': repr(app.current_request.raw_body)}
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_app.py b/tests/unit/test_app.py
index fc9cdae36..f42f2e884 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_app.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_app.py
@@ -1278,3 +1278,17 @@ def test_debug_mode_changes_log_level():
     test_app.debug = True
     assert test_app.debug is True
     assert test_app.log.getEffectiveLevel() == logging.DEBUG
+
+
+def test_raw_body_is_none_if_body_is_none():
+    misc_kwargs = {
+        'query_params': {},
+        'headers': {},
+        'uri_params': {},
+        'method': 'GET',
+        'context': {},
+        'stage_vars': {},
+        'is_base64_encoded': False,
+    }
+    request = app.Request(body=None, **misc_kwargs)
+    assert request.raw_body is None
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_local.py b/tests/unit/test_local.py
index d28afb2a4..5e97cc8c4 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_local.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_local.py
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ def test_can_create_lambda_event():
         'headers': {'content-type': 'application/json'},
         'pathParameters': {'capture': 'other'},
         'queryStringParameters': {},
-        'body': '{}',
+        'body': None,
         'stageVariables': {},
     }