diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/MergedResultSet.java b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/MergedResultSet.java
index fcbc49f346d..1cbbf0818c5 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/MergedResultSet.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/MergedResultSet.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import com.google.cloud.spanner.SpannerExceptionFactory;
 import com.google.cloud.spanner.Struct;
 import com.google.cloud.spanner.Type;
+import com.google.cloud.spanner.Type.Code;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.base.Supplier;
 import com.google.spanner.v1.ResultSetMetadata;
@@ -82,9 +83,11 @@ public void run() {
             break;
           }
         }
-        if (first) {
-          // Special case: The result set did not return any rows. Push the metadata to the merged
-          // result set.
+        if (first
+            && resultSet.getType().getCode() == Code.STRUCT
+            && !resultSet.getType().getStructFields().isEmpty()) {
+          // Special case: The result set did not return any rows, but did return metadata.
+          // Push the metadata to the merged result set.
           queue.put(
               PartitionExecutorResult.typeAndMetadata(
                   resultSet.getType(), resultSet.getMetadata()));
@@ -319,13 +322,17 @@ public Struct get() {
       return currentRow;
     }
 
-    private PartitionExecutorResult getFirstResult() {
+    private PartitionExecutorResult getFirstResultWithMetadata() {
       try {
         metadataAvailableLatch.await();
       } catch (InterruptedException interruptedException) {
         throw SpannerExceptionFactory.propagateInterrupt(interruptedException);
       }
-      PartitionExecutorResult result = queue.peek();
+      PartitionExecutorResult result =
+          queue.stream()
+              .filter(rs -> rs.metadata != null || rs.exception != null)
+              .findFirst()
+              .orElse(null);
       if (result == null) {
         throw SpannerExceptionFactory.newSpannerException(
             ErrorCode.FAILED_PRECONDITION, "Thread-unsafe access to ResultSet");
@@ -338,7 +345,7 @@ private PartitionExecutorResult getFirstResult() {
 
     public ResultSetMetadata getMetadata() {
       if (metadata == null) {
-        return getFirstResult().metadata;
+        return getFirstResultWithMetadata().metadata;
       }
       return metadata;
     }
@@ -355,7 +362,7 @@ public int getParallelism() {
 
     public Type getType() {
       if (type == null) {
-        return getFirstResult().type;
+        return getFirstResultWithMetadata().type;
       }
       return type;
     }
diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/MergedResultSetTest.java b/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/MergedResultSetTest.java
index b0465be6106..6d3950efbc3 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/MergedResultSetTest.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/MergedResultSetTest.java
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
 import com.google.cloud.spanner.SpannerExceptionFactory;
 import com.google.cloud.spanner.Struct;
 import com.google.cloud.spanner.Type;
+import com.google.spanner.v1.ResultSetMetadata;
+import com.google.spanner.v1.StructType;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.BitSet;
 import java.util.Collection;
@@ -103,7 +105,7 @@ public static Collection<Object[]> parameters() {
     return params;
   }
 
-  private MockedResults setupResults(boolean withErrors) {
+  private MockedResults setupResults(boolean withErrors, boolean withEmptyResults) {
     Random random = new Random();
     Connection connection = mock(Connection.class);
     List<String> partitions = new ArrayList<>();
@@ -122,10 +124,22 @@ private MockedResults setupResults(boolean withErrors) {
         when(connection.runPartition(partition))
             .thenReturn(new ResultSetWithError(ResultSetsHelper.fromProto(proto), errorIndex));
       } else {
-        when(connection.runPartition(partition)).thenReturn(ResultSetsHelper.fromProto(proto));
-        try (ResultSet resultSet = ResultSetsHelper.fromProto(proto)) {
-          while (resultSet.next()) {
-            allRows.add(resultSet.getCurrentRowAsStruct());
+        if (withEmptyResults && numPartitions > 1 && index == 0) {
+          when(connection.runPartition(partition))
+              .thenReturn(
+                  ResultSetsHelper.fromProto(
+                      com.google.spanner.v1.ResultSet.newBuilder()
+                          .setMetadata(
+                              ResultSetMetadata.newBuilder()
+                                  .setRowType(StructType.newBuilder().build())
+                                  .build())
+                          .build()));
+        } else {
+          when(connection.runPartition(partition)).thenReturn(ResultSetsHelper.fromProto(proto));
+          try (ResultSet resultSet = ResultSetsHelper.fromProto(proto)) {
+            while (resultSet.next()) {
+              allRows.add(resultSet.getCurrentRowAsStruct());
+            }
           }
         }
       }
@@ -135,7 +149,7 @@ private MockedResults setupResults(boolean withErrors) {
 
   @Test
   public void testAllResultsAreReturned() {
-    MockedResults results = setupResults(false);
+    MockedResults results = setupResults(/* withErrors= */ false, /* withEmptyResults= */ false);
     BitSet rowsFound = new BitSet(results.allRows.size());
     try (MergedResultSet resultSet =
         new MergedResultSet(results.connection, results.partitions, maxParallelism)) {
@@ -170,7 +184,7 @@ public void testAllResultsAreReturned() {
 
   @Test
   public void testResultSetStopsAfterFirstError() {
-    MockedResults results = setupResults(true);
+    MockedResults results = setupResults(/* withErrors= */ true, /* withEmptyResults= */ false);
     try (MergedResultSet resultSet =
         new MergedResultSet(results.connection, results.partitions, maxParallelism)) {
       if (numPartitions > 0) {
@@ -194,6 +208,40 @@ public void testResultSetStopsAfterFirstError() {
     }
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testResultSetReturnsNonEmptyMetadata() {
+    MockedResults results = setupResults(/* withErrors= */ false, /* withEmptyResults= */ true);
+    BitSet rowsFound = new BitSet(results.allRows.size());
+    try (MergedResultSet resultSet =
+        new MergedResultSet(results.connection, results.partitions, maxParallelism)) {
+      if (numPartitions > 0) {
+        assertNotNull(resultSet.getMetadata());
+        assertEquals(26, resultSet.getMetadata().getRowType().getFieldsCount());
+      }
+      while (resultSet.next()) {
+        assertRowExists(results.allRows, resultSet.getCurrentRowAsStruct(), rowsFound);
+      }
+      if (numPartitions == 0) {
+        assertEquals(0, resultSet.getColumnCount());
+      } else {
+        assertEquals(26, resultSet.getColumnCount());
+        assertEquals(Type.bool(), resultSet.getColumnType(0));
+        assertEquals(Type.bool(), resultSet.getColumnType("COL0"));
+        assertEquals(10, resultSet.getColumnIndex("COL10"));
+      }
+      // Check that all rows were found.
+      assertEquals(results.allRows.size(), rowsFound.nextClearBit(0));
+      // Check extended metadata.
+      assertEquals(numPartitions, resultSet.getNumPartitions());
+      if (maxParallelism > 0) {
+        assertEquals(Math.min(numPartitions, maxParallelism), resultSet.getParallelism());
+      } else {
+        int processors = Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors();
+        assertEquals(Math.min(numPartitions, processors), resultSet.getParallelism());
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   private void assertRowExists(List<Struct> expectedRows, Struct row, BitSet rowsFound) {
     for (int i = 0; i < expectedRows.size(); i++) {
       if (row.equals(expectedRows.get(i))) {