diff --git a/pbj-core/pbj-runtime/src/main/java/com/hedera/pbj/runtime/io/buffer/DirectBufferedData.java b/pbj-core/pbj-runtime/src/main/java/com/hedera/pbj/runtime/io/buffer/DirectBufferedData.java
index 205c778b..39672e81 100644
--- a/pbj-core/pbj-runtime/src/main/java/com/hedera/pbj/runtime/io/buffer/DirectBufferedData.java
+++ b/pbj-core/pbj-runtime/src/main/java/com/hedera/pbj/runtime/io/buffer/DirectBufferedData.java
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ public long readBytes(@NonNull final ByteBuffer dst) {
     @Override
     public Bytes readBytes(final int len) {
         validateLen(len);
+        if (len == 0) return Bytes.EMPTY;
         final int pos = buffer.position();
         validateCanRead(pos, len);
         final byte[] res = new byte[len];
diff --git a/pbj-core/pbj-runtime/src/test/java/com/hedera/pbj/runtime/io/buffer/BufferedDataTestBase.java b/pbj-core/pbj-runtime/src/test/java/com/hedera/pbj/runtime/io/buffer/BufferedDataTestBase.java
index 6e375c1f..2ee0859d 100644
--- a/pbj-core/pbj-runtime/src/test/java/com/hedera/pbj/runtime/io/buffer/BufferedDataTestBase.java
+++ b/pbj-core/pbj-runtime/src/test/java/com/hedera/pbj/runtime/io/buffer/BufferedDataTestBase.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertArrayEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertSame;
 
 import com.hedera.pbj.runtime.io.ReadableSequentialData;
 import com.hedera.pbj.runtime.io.ReadableSequentialTestBase;
@@ -293,6 +294,15 @@ void readBytesCopies() {
         assertArrayEquals(bytesOrig, readBytes.toByteArray());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void readBytesReturnsConstantEmptyForZeroLength() {
+        byte[] bytes = new byte[] {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
+        final var buf = wrap(bytes);
+        final Bytes readBytes = buf.readBytes(0);
+        // NOTE: assertSame and not assertEquals, by design:
+        assertSame(Bytes.EMPTY, readBytes);
+    }
+
     @Test
     void getBytesLeavesPositionBufferedData() {
         final var buf = wrap(new byte[] {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7});