diff --git a/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/ssz/TransactionNetworkPayload.java b/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/ssz/TransactionNetworkPayload.java
index 168e570a8f..0844561c2c 100644
--- a/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/ssz/TransactionNetworkPayload.java
+++ b/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/ssz/TransactionNetworkPayload.java
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ public class TransactionNetworkPayload implements SSZReadable, SSZWritable {
     public static class Data implements SSZReadable, SSZWritable {
       public static final int MAX_CALL_DATA_SIZE = 16777216; // 2**24
 
-      Bytes data;
+      Bytes data = Bytes.EMPTY;
 
       @Override
       public boolean isFixed() {
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ public class TransactionNetworkPayload implements SSZReadable, SSZWritable {
 
       @Override
       public void writeTo(final SSZWriter writer) {
-        if (data != null) {
+        if (data != Bytes.EMPTY) {
           writer.writeBytes(data);
         }
       }
diff --git a/ethereum/core/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/TransactionSSZEncodingTest.java b/ethereum/core/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/TransactionSSZEncodingTest.java
index db6ead143b..9c6617cbdc 100644
--- a/ethereum/core/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/TransactionSSZEncodingTest.java
+++ b/ethereum/core/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/TransactionSSZEncodingTest.java
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ public class TransactionSSZEncodingTest {
   private static final String BLOB_TRANSACTIONS_TEST_VECTORS_JSON =
       "org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/blob_transactions_test_vectors.json";
 
+  private static final String BLOB_TRANSACTIONS_WITHOUT_BLOBS_TEST_VECTORS_JSON =
+      "org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/blob_transactions_without_blobs_test_vectors.json";
+
   private static Collection<Object[]> blobTransactionsTestVectors() throws IOException {
 
     ClassLoader classLoader = TransactionSSZEncodingTest.class.getClassLoader();
@@ -63,6 +66,29 @@ public class TransactionSSZEncodingTest {
         .collect(ArrayList::new, ArrayList::add, ArrayList::addAll);
   }
 
+  private static Collection<Object[]> blobTransactionsTestVectorsWithoutBlobs() throws IOException {
+
+    ClassLoader classLoader = TransactionSSZEncodingTest.class.getClassLoader();
+    InputStream inputStream =
+        classLoader.getResourceAsStream(BLOB_TRANSACTIONS_WITHOUT_BLOBS_TEST_VECTORS_JSON);
+    JsonParser parser = new JsonFactory().createParser(inputStream);
+    ObjectMapper mapper =
+        JsonMapper.builder()
+            .configure(MapperFeature.ACCEPT_CASE_INSENSITIVE_PROPERTIES, true)
+            .build();
+    List<ModelWithoutBlobs> models = mapper.readValue(parser, new TypeReference<>() {});
+
+    return models.stream()
+        .map(
+            model ->
+                new Object[] {
+                  generateNameWithoutblobs(model.getInput()),
+                  model.getInput(),
+                  model.getRawEncodedTransaction()
+                })
+        .collect(ArrayList::new, ArrayList::add, ArrayList::addAll);
+  }
+
   private static String generateName(final Input input) {
     return " To: "
         + input.getTo()
@@ -76,6 +102,10 @@ public class TransactionSSZEncodingTest {
         + input.getNonce();
   }
 
+  private static String generateNameWithoutblobs(final InputWithoutBlobs input) {
+    return " chainId: " + input.getChainId();
+  }
+
   @ParameterizedTest(name = "[{index}] {0}")
   @MethodSource("blobTransactionsTestVectors")
   void shouldDecodeSSZTransactions(
@@ -92,6 +122,20 @@ public class TransactionSSZEncodingTest {
     assertThat(encodedBytes.toHexString()).isEqualTo(rawTransaction);
   }
 
+  @ParameterizedTest(name = "[{index}] {0}")
+  @MethodSource("blobTransactionsTestVectorsWithoutBlobs")
+  void shouldDecodeSSZTransactionsWithoutBlobs(
+      final String name, final InputWithoutBlobs input, final String rawTransaction) {
+    final Bytes bytes = Bytes.fromHexString(rawTransaction);
+    final Transaction transaction = TransactionDecoder.decodeOpaqueBytes(bytes);
+
+    assertThat(transaction).isNotNull();
+    assertThat(transaction.getPayload()).isNotNull();
+    final Bytes encodedBytes = TransactionEncoder.encodeOpaqueBytes(transaction);
+    assertThat(encodedBytes).isNotNull();
+    assertThat(encodedBytes.toHexString()).isEqualTo(rawTransaction);
+  }
+
   public static class Model {
     private Input input;
     private String rawEncodedTransaction;
@@ -113,6 +157,27 @@ public class TransactionSSZEncodingTest {
     }
   }
 
+  public static class ModelWithoutBlobs {
+    private InputWithoutBlobs input;
+    private String rawEncodedTransaction;
+
+    public InputWithoutBlobs getInput() {
+      return input;
+    }
+
+    public void setInput(final InputWithoutBlobs input) {
+      this.input = input;
+    }
+
+    public String getRawEncodedTransaction() {
+      return rawEncodedTransaction;
+    }
+
+    public void setRawEncodedTransaction(final String rawEncodedTransaction) {
+      this.rawEncodedTransaction = rawEncodedTransaction;
+    }
+  }
+
   public static class Input {
     String privateKey;
     String to;
@@ -196,4 +261,16 @@ public class TransactionSSZEncodingTest {
       this.data = data;
     }
   }
+
+  public static class InputWithoutBlobs {
+    String chainId;
+
+    public String getChainId() {
+      return chainId;
+    }
+
+    public void setChainId(final String chainId) {
+      this.chainId = chainId;
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/ethereum/core/src/test/resources/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/blob_transactions_without_blobs_test_vectors.json b/ethereum/core/src/test/resources/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/blob_transactions_without_blobs_test_vectors.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..622a826601
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ethereum/core/src/test/resources/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/encoding/blob_transactions_without_blobs_test_vectors.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+[
+  {
+    "Input": {
+      "chainId": "4844001004"
+    },
+    "RawEncodedTransaction": "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"
+  }
+]
\ No newline at end of file