diff --git a/spec/core/data_structures.md b/spec/core/data_structures.md
index b4f2dd0ce..421ab283a 100644
--- a/spec/core/data_structures.md
+++ b/spec/core/data_structures.md
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ block.LastResultsHash == MerkleRoot([]ResponseDeliverTx)
 
 `LastResultsHash` is the root hash of a Merkle tree built from `ResponseDeliverTx` responses (`Log`,`Info`, `Codespace` and `Events` fields are ignored).
 
-The first block has `block.Header.ResultsHash == []byte{}`.
+The first block has `block.Header.ResultsHash == MerkleRoot(nil)`, i.e. the hash of an empty input, for RFC-6962 conformance.
 
 ## EvidenceHash
 
diff --git a/spec/core/encoding.md b/spec/core/encoding.md
index 31b9c0625..649d91e67 100644
--- a/spec/core/encoding.md
+++ b/spec/core/encoding.md
@@ -216,6 +216,11 @@ h0  h1  h2 h3                      h0  h1  h2  h3  h4  h5
 The function `MerkleRoot` is a simple recursive function defined as follows:
 
 ```go
+// SHA256([]byte{})
+func emptyHash() []byte {
+    return tmhash.Sum([]byte{})
+}
+
 // SHA256(0x00 || leaf)
 func leafHash(leaf []byte) []byte {
 	return tmhash.Sum(append(0x00, leaf...))
@@ -232,7 +237,7 @@ func getSplitPoint(k int) { ... }
 func MerkleRoot(items [][]byte) []byte{
 	switch len(items) {
 	case 0:
-		return nil
+		return empthHash()
 	case 1:
 		return leafHash(items[0])
 	default: