diff --git a/tests/test_http.py b/tests/test_http.py
index 52263cb..e0ece39 100644
--- a/tests/test_http.py
+++ b/tests/test_http.py
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ def test_headers_raw_dict_none(self):
         assert headers_raw_to_dict(None) is None
         assert headers_dict_to_raw(None) is None
 
+    def test_headers_raw_dict_empty(self):
+        assert headers_raw_to_dict(b"") == {}
+        assert headers_dict_to_raw({}) == b""
+
     def test_headers_raw_to_dict(self):
         raw = b"Content-type: text/html\n\rAccept: gzip\n\r\
                 Cache-Control: no-cache\n\rCache-Control: no-store\n\n"
diff --git a/w3lib/http.py b/w3lib/http.py
index 1791c98..fe47748 100644
--- a/w3lib/http.py
+++ b/w3lib/http.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 from base64 import b64encode
 from collections.abc import Mapping, MutableMapping, Sequence
+from io import BytesIO
 from typing import Any, Union, overload
 
 from w3lib.util import to_bytes, to_unicode
@@ -44,21 +45,23 @@ def headers_raw_to_dict(headers_raw: bytes | None) -> HeadersDictOutput | None:
 
     if headers_raw is None:
         return None
-    headers = headers_raw.splitlines()
-    headers_tuples = [header.split(b":", 1) for header in headers]
+
+    if not headers_raw:
+        return {}
 
     result_dict: HeadersDictOutput = {}
-    for header_item in headers_tuples:
-        if len(header_item) != 2:
+
+    for header in BytesIO(headers_raw):
+        key, sep, value = header.partition(b":")
+        if not sep:
             continue
 
-        item_key = header_item[0].strip()
-        item_value = header_item[1].strip()
+        key, value = key.strip(), value.strip()
 
-        if item_key in result_dict:
-            result_dict[item_key].append(item_value)
+        if key in result_dict:
+            result_dict[key].append(value)
         else:
-            result_dict[item_key] = [item_value]
+            result_dict[key] = [value]
 
     return result_dict
 
@@ -93,13 +96,25 @@ def headers_dict_to_raw(headers_dict: HeadersDictInput | None) -> bytes | None:
 
     if headers_dict is None:
         return None
-    raw_lines = []
+
+    if not headers_dict:
+        return b""
+
+    parts = bytearray()
+
     for key, value in headers_dict.items():
         if isinstance(value, bytes):
-            raw_lines.append(b": ".join([key, value]))
+            if parts:
+                parts.extend(b"\r\n")
+            parts.extend(key + b": " + value)
+
         elif isinstance(value, (list, tuple)):
-            raw_lines.extend(b": ".join([key, v]) for v in value)
-    return b"\r\n".join(raw_lines)
+            for v in value:
+                if parts:
+                    parts.extend(b"\r\n")
+                parts.extend(key + b": " + v)
+
+    return bytes(parts)
 
 
 def basic_auth_header(