diff --git a/src/jsx_to_term.erl b/src/jsx_to_term.erl
index aa05264..e4e5f5e 100644
--- a/src/jsx_to_term.erl
+++ b/src/jsx_to_term.erl
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ parse_config([labels|Rest], Config) ->
     parse_config(Rest, Config#config{labels = binary});
 parse_config([{return_maps, Val}|Rest], Config)
         when Val == true; Val == false ->
-    parse_config(Rest, Config#config{return_maps = true});
+    parse_config(Rest, Config#config{return_maps = Val});
 parse_config([return_maps|Rest], Config) ->
     parse_config(Rest, Config#config{return_maps = true});
 parse_config([{K, _}|Rest] = Options, Config) ->
@@ -424,6 +424,10 @@ return_maps_test_() ->
             [{}],
             jsx:decode(<<"{}">>, [])
         )},
+        {"an empty map", ?_assertEqual(
+            [{}],
+            jsx:decode(<<"{}">>, [{return_maps, false}])
+        )},
         {"a small map", ?_assertEqual(
             #{<<"awesome">> => true, <<"library">> => <<"jsx">>},
             jsx:decode(<<"{\"library\": \"jsx\", \"awesome\": true}">>, [return_maps])