TomEE 1.7.1 MyFaces 2.1.17 not honoring javax.faces.INTERPRET_EMPTY_STRING_SUBMITTED_VALUES_AS_NULL

I have this set in my web.xml:

<context-param>
    <param-name>javax.faces.INTERPRET_EMPTY_STRING_SUBMITTED_VALUES_AS_NULL</param-name>
    <param-value>true</param-value>
</context-param>

And when I submit, here's what chrome sends:

demographicInformationForm:leadFirstNameInputText:asdf
demographicInformationForm:leadLastNameInputText:asdf
demographicInformationForm:leadBirthdateInputText:asdf
demographicInformationForm:emailInputText:
demographicInformationForm_SUBMIT:1

Despite this, JSF is attemping to assign the value "" to the field behind emailInputText. Am I missing something?