diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 89bf05b6..48c32809 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+## 0.5.7
+ - Fix edge case for uninitialized Vlens
+ 
 ## 0.5.6
  - Add Aqua tests and eliminate method ambiguities
  
diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 05be4ca1..00cad207 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 name = "JLD2"
 uuid = "033835bb-8acc-5ee8-8aae-3f567f8a3819"
-version = "0.5.6"
+version = "0.5.7"
 
 [deps]
 FileIO = "5789e2e9-d7fb-5bc7-8068-2c6fae9b9549"
diff --git a/src/data/writing_datatypes.jl b/src/data/writing_datatypes.jl
index cf80bfb4..f45ea8d2 100644
--- a/src/data/writing_datatypes.jl
+++ b/src/data/writing_datatypes.jl
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ h5convert_uninitialized!(out::Pointers, odr::Type{T}) where {T<:Vlen} =
 # Read variable-length data given offset and length in ptr
 jlconvert(::MappedRepr{T,Vlen{S}}, f::JLDFile, ptr::Ptr, ::RelOffset) where {T,S} =
     read_heap_object(f, jlunsafe_load(pconvert(Ptr{GlobalHeapID}, ptr+4)), ReadRepresentation(T, S))
-jlconvert_canbeuninitialized(::MappedRepr{<: Type, <: Vlen}) = true
+jlconvert_canbeuninitialized(::MappedRepr{<: Any, <: Vlen}) = true
 jlconvert_isinitialized(::MappedRepr{T,Vlen{S}}, ptr::Ptr) where {T,S} =
     jlunsafe_load(pconvert(Ptr{GlobalHeapID}, ptr+4)) != GlobalHeapID(RelOffset(0), 0)
 
diff --git a/test/loadsave.jl b/test/loadsave.jl
index 4684601b..5b3decaf 100644
--- a/test/loadsave.jl
+++ b/test/loadsave.jl
@@ -837,4 +837,14 @@ end
         end
     end
     recursive_test(obj, res)
+end
+
+@testset "Issue #611 - non-initialized Symbol field" begin
+    fn = joinpath(mktempdir(), "non-init-symbolfield.jld2")
+    data = Vector{Symbol}(undef, 2)
+    data[1] = :a
+    jldsave(fn; data)
+    loaded_data = load(fn, "data")
+    @test !isassigned(loaded_data, 2)
+    @test loaded_data[1] == :a
 end
\ No newline at end of file