diff --git a/hugolib/template_test.go b/hugolib/template_test.go
index abb6d32f9..2908fdf71 100644
--- a/hugolib/template_test.go
+++ b/hugolib/template_test.go
@@ -456,22 +456,34 @@ complex: 80: 80
 `,
 		)
 	})
+}
 
-	c.Run("Zero argument", func(c *qt.C) {
-		b := newBuilder(c)
+// Issue 7528
+func TestPartialWithZeroedArgs(t *testing.T) {
 
-		b.WithTemplatesAdded(
-			"index.html", `
-Test Partials With Return Values:
+	b := newTestSitesBuilder(t)
+	b.WithTemplatesAdded("index.html",
+		` 
+X{{ partial "retval" dict }}X
+X{{ partial "retval" slice }}X
+X{{ partial "retval" "" }}X
+X{{ partial "retval" false }}X
+X{{ partial "retval" 0 }}X
+{{ define "partials/retval" }}
+  {{ return 123 }}
+{{ end }}`)
 
-add42: fail: {{ partial "add42.tpl" 0 }}
+	b.WithContentAdded("p.md", ``)
+	b.Build(BuildCfg{})
+	b.AssertFileContent("public/index.html",
+		`
+X123X
+X123X
+X123X
+X123X
+X123X
+`)
 
-`,
-		)
-
-		e := b.CreateSites().BuildE(BuildCfg{})
-		b.Assert(e, qt.Not(qt.IsNil))
-	})
 }
 
 func TestPartialCached(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/tpl/partials/partials.go b/tpl/partials/partials.go
index e8a8adc36..b0dc0a997 100644
--- a/tpl/partials/partials.go
+++ b/tpl/partials/partials.go
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 
-	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/common/hreflect"
 	texttemplate "github.com/gohugoio/hugo/tpl/internal/go_templates/texttemplate"
 
 	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/helpers"
@@ -121,10 +120,6 @@ func (ns *Namespace) Include(name string, contextList ...interface{}) (interface
 	var w io.Writer
 
 	if info.HasReturn {
-		if !hreflect.IsTruthful(context) {
-			// TODO(bep) we need to fix this, but it is non-trivial.
-			return nil, errors.New("partial that returns a value needs a non-zero argument.")
-		}
 		// Wrap the context sent to the template to capture the return value.
 		// Note that the template is rewritten to make sure that the dot (".")
 		// and the $ variable points to Arg.
diff --git a/tpl/tplimpl/template_ast_transformers.go b/tpl/tplimpl/template_ast_transformers.go
index de9b5424f..33461dc7d 100644
--- a/tpl/tplimpl/template_ast_transformers.go
+++ b/tpl/tplimpl/template_ast_transformers.go
@@ -112,7 +112,11 @@ func getParseTree(templ tpl.Template) *parse.Tree {
 }
 
 const (
-	partialReturnWrapperTempl = `{{ $_hugo_dot := $ }}{{ $ := .Arg }}{{ with .Arg }}{{ $_hugo_dot.Set ("PLACEHOLDER") }}{{ end }}`
+	// We parse this template and modify the nodes in order to assign
+	// the return value of a partial to a contextWrapper via Set. We use
+	// "range" over a one-element slice so we can shift dot to the
+	// partial's argument, Arg, while allowing Arg to be falsy.
+	partialReturnWrapperTempl = `{{ $_hugo_dot := $ }}{{ $ := .Arg }}{{ range (slice .Arg) }}{{ $_hugo_dot.Set ("PLACEHOLDER") }}{{ end }}`
 )
 
 var partialReturnWrapper *parse.ListNode
@@ -125,16 +129,18 @@ func init() {
 	partialReturnWrapper = templ.Tree.Root
 }
 
+// wrapInPartialReturnWrapper copies and modifies the parsed nodes of a
+// predefined partial return wrapper to insert those of a user-defined partial.
 func (c *templateContext) wrapInPartialReturnWrapper(n *parse.ListNode) *parse.ListNode {
 	wrapper := partialReturnWrapper.CopyList()
-	withNode := wrapper.Nodes[2].(*parse.WithNode)
-	retn := withNode.List.Nodes[0]
+	rangeNode := wrapper.Nodes[2].(*parse.RangeNode)
+	retn := rangeNode.List.Nodes[0]
 	setCmd := retn.(*parse.ActionNode).Pipe.Cmds[0]
 	setPipe := setCmd.Args[1].(*parse.PipeNode)
 	// Replace PLACEHOLDER with the real return value.
 	// Note that this is a PipeNode, so it will be wrapped in parens.
 	setPipe.Cmds = []*parse.CommandNode{c.returnNode}
-	withNode.List.Nodes = append(n.Nodes, retn)
+	rangeNode.List.Nodes = append(n.Nodes, retn)
 
 	return wrapper
 }