diff --git a/src/wp-includes/query.php b/src/wp-includes/query.php
index d523bcc351..d060b7e3b6 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/query.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/query.php
@@ -1830,6 +1830,8 @@ class WP_Query {
 				'field' => 'term_id',
 				'include_children' => false
 			);
+		} elseif ( isset( $this->query['category__in'] ) ) {
+			$q['category__in'] = false;
 		}
 
 		if ( ! empty($q['category__not_in']) ) {
@@ -1887,6 +1889,8 @@ class WP_Query {
 				'taxonomy' => 'post_tag',
 				'terms' => $q['tag__in']
 			);
+		} elseif ( isset( $this->query['tag__in'] ) ) {
+			$q['tag__in'] = false;
 		}
 
 		if ( !empty($q['tag__not_in']) ) {
@@ -1914,6 +1918,8 @@ class WP_Query {
 				'terms' => $q['tag_slug__in'],
 				'field' => 'slug'
 			);
+		} elseif ( isset( $this->query['tag_slug__in'] ) ) {
+			$q['tag_slug__in'] = false;
 		}
 
 		if ( !empty($q['tag_slug__and']) ) {
@@ -2500,6 +2506,13 @@ class WP_Query {
 			$where .= $clauses['where'];
 		}
 
+		// If *__in is passed to WP_Query as an empty array, don't return results
+		foreach ( array( 'category', 'tag', 'tag_slug' ) as $in ) {
+			if ( isset( $q["{$in}__in"] ) && false === $q["{$in}__in"] ) {
+				$where = " AND 1=0 $where";
+			}
+		}
+
 		if ( $this->is_tax ) {
 			if ( empty($post_type) ) {
 				// Do a fully inclusive search for currently registered post types of queried taxonomies
@@ -2591,6 +2604,9 @@ class WP_Query {
 		} elseif ( ! empty( $q['author__in'] ) ) {
 			$author__in = implode( ',', array_map( 'absint', array_unique( (array) $q['author__in'] ) ) );
 			$where .= " AND {$wpdb->posts}.post_author IN ($author__in) ";
+		} elseif ( isset( $this->query['author__in'] ) ) {
+			$author__in = 0;
+			$where .= ' AND 1=0 ';
 		}
 
 		// Author stuff for nice URLs
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/query/results.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/query/results.php
index 9c4ce065f9..08e8e1900f 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/query/results.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/query/results.php
@@ -513,6 +513,9 @@ class Tests_Query_Results extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		$author_ids = array_unique( wp_list_pluck( $posts, 'post_author' ) );
 		$this->assertEqualSets( array( $author_1, $author_2 ), $author_ids );
 
+		$posts = $this->q->query( array( 'author__in' => array() ) );
+		$this->assertEmpty( $posts );
+
 		$posts = $this->q->query( array(
 			'author__not_in' => array( $author_1, $author_2 ),
 			'post__in' => array( $post_1, $post_2, $post_3, $post_4 )
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/term/query.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/term/query.php
index 7cfa26b07d..62f277de6d 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/term/query.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/term/query.php
@@ -202,4 +202,30 @@ class Tests_Tax_Query extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 
 		$this->assertEquals( array( $posts[0], $posts[3] ), $results2, 'Relation: AND; Operator: IN' );
 	}
+
+	function test_empty__in() {
+		$cat_id = $this->factory->category->create();
+		$post_id = $this->factory->post->create();
+		wp_set_post_categories( $post_id, $cat_id );
+
+		$q1 = get_posts( array( 'category__in' => array( $cat_id ) ) );
+		$this->assertNotEmpty( $q1 );
+		$q2 = get_posts( array( 'category__in' => array() ) );
+		$this->assertEmpty( $q2 );
+
+		$tag = wp_insert_term( 'woo', 'post_tag' );
+		$tag_id = $tag['term_id'];
+		$slug = get_tag( $tag_id )->slug;
+		wp_set_post_tags( $post_id, $slug );
+
+		$q3 = get_posts( array( 'tag__in' => array( $tag_id ) ) );
+		$this->assertNotEmpty( $q3 );
+		$q4 = get_posts( array( 'tag__in' => array() ) );
+		$this->assertEmpty( $q4 );
+
+		$q5 = get_posts( array( 'tag_slug__in' => array( $slug ) ) );
+		$this->assertNotEmpty( $q5 );
+		$q6 = get_posts( array( 'tag_slug__in' => array() ) );
+		$this->assertEmpty( $q6 );
+	}
 }