diff --git a/src/apify/_configuration.py b/src/apify/_configuration.py
index 05710dd9..ffdd0a06 100644
--- a/src/apify/_configuration.py
+++ b/src/apify/_configuration.py
@@ -59,9 +59,9 @@ def _load_storage_keys(data: None | str | ActorStorages) -> ActorStorages | None
         `ActorStorages` dict when set programmatically.
 
     Returns:
-        Normalized storage mapping, or `None` if the input is `None`.
+        Normalized storage mapping, or `None` if the input is `None` or an empty string.
     """
-    if data is None:
+    if data is None or data == '':
         return None
     storage_mapping = json.loads(data) if isinstance(data, str) else data
     return {
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ class Configuration(CrawleeConfiguration):
             alias='apify_charged_actor_event_counts',
             description='Counts of events that were charged for the actor',
         ),
-        BeforeValidator(lambda data: json.loads(data) if isinstance(data, str) else data or None),
+        BeforeValidator(lambda data: json.loads(data) if isinstance(data, str) and data else data or None),
     ] = None
 
     actor_storages: Annotated[
diff --git a/tests/unit/actor/test_configuration.py b/tests/unit/actor/test_configuration.py
index 0fd686dd..8c89f4b9 100644
--- a/tests/unit/actor/test_configuration.py
+++ b/tests/unit/actor/test_configuration.py
@@ -373,6 +373,13 @@ def test_actor_pricing_info_env_var_empty_becomes_none(monkeypatch: pytest.Monke
     assert config.actor_pricing_info is None
 
 
+def test_charged_event_counts_env_var_empty_string_becomes_none(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    """Test that an empty env var for charged_event_counts is converted to None instead of crashing."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv('APIFY_CHARGED_ACTOR_EVENT_COUNTS', '')
+    config = ApifyConfiguration()
+    assert config.charged_event_counts is None
+
+
 def test_actor_storage_json_env_var(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
     """Test that actor_storages_json is parsed from JSON env var."""
     datasets = {'default': 'default_dataset_id', 'custom': 'custom_dataset_id'}
@@ -392,3 +399,10 @@ def test_actor_storage_json_env_var(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
     assert config.actor_storages['datasets'] == datasets
     assert config.actor_storages['request_queues'] == request_queues
     assert config.actor_storages['key_value_stores'] == key_value_stores
+
+
+def test_actor_storages_env_var_empty_string_becomes_none(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    """Test that an empty env var for actor_storages is converted to None instead of crashing."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv('ACTOR_STORAGES_JSON', '')
+    config = ApifyConfiguration()
+    assert config.actor_storages is None