diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_file.ps1 b/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_file.ps1
index 69c268f8f7..68df390c92 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_file.ps1
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_file.ps1
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ if ($state -eq "touch") {
         if (Test-Path $path) {
             (Get-ChildItem $path).LastWriteTime = Get-Date
         } else {
-            echo $null > $path
+            Write-Output $null | Out-File -FilePath $path -Encoding ASCII
         }
     }
     $result.changed = $true
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/win_file/tasks/main.yml b/test/integration/targets/win_file/tasks/main.yml
index 7eeb97d023..d46bcbeb70 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/win_file/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/win_file/tasks/main.yml
@@ -52,6 +52,16 @@
 #      - "file3_result.state == 'file'"
 #      - "file3_result.mode == '0644'"
 
+- name: stat the touched file
+  win_stat: path={{win_output_dir}}/baz.txt state=touch
+  register: file3_stat_result
+
+- name: verify that the touched file exists and is size 0
+  assert:
+    that:
+      - "file3_stat_result.changed == false"
+      - "file3_stat_result.stat.size == 0"
+      - "file3_stat_result.stat.exists == true"
 #- name: change file mode
 #  win_file: path={{win_output_dir}}/baz.txt mode=0600
 #  register: file4_result