diff --git a/proxy/grpc/server.go b/proxy/grpc/server.go
index 7be1747..18af360 100644
--- a/proxy/grpc/server.go
+++ b/proxy/grpc/server.go
@@ -59,9 +59,6 @@ func (s *proxyOutputSrv) GetNextBatch(ctx context.Context, req *pbseq.Batch) (*p
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if batch == nil {
-		return nil, nil
-	}
 	return batch.ToProto(), nil
 }
 
diff --git a/test/dummy.go b/test/dummy.go
index 335cfb1..276f736 100644
--- a/test/dummy.go
+++ b/test/dummy.go
@@ -39,10 +39,6 @@ func (tq *TransactionQueue) GetNextBatch() *sequencing.Batch {
 	defer tq.mu.Unlock()
 
 	size := len(tq.queue)
-	if size == 0 {
-		return nil
-	}
-
 	batch := tq.queue[:size]
 	tq.queue = tq.queue[size:]
 	return &sequencing.Batch{Transactions: batch}
@@ -90,8 +86,9 @@ func (d *DummySequencer) GetNextBatch(ctx context.Context, lastBatch *sequencing
 	}
 
 	batch := d.tq.GetNextBatch()
-	if batch == nil {
-		return nil, nil
+	// If there are no transactions, return empty batch without updating the last batch hash
+	if batch.Transactions == nil {
+		return batch, nil
 	}
 
 	batchBytes, err := batch.Marshal()