diff --git a/rpc_util.go b/rpc_util.go
index b7723aa09cbb..a4b6bc6873c3 100644
--- a/rpc_util.go
+++ b/rpc_util.go
@@ -640,14 +640,18 @@ func encode(c baseCodec, msg any) ([]byte, error) {
 	return b, nil
 }
 
-// compress returns the input bytes compressed by compressor or cp.  If both
-// compressors are nil, returns nil.
+// compress returns the input bytes compressed by compressor or cp.
+// If both compressors are nil, or if the message has zero length, returns nil,
+// indicating no compression was done.
 //
 // TODO(dfawley): eliminate cp parameter by wrapping Compressor in an encoding.Compressor.
 func compress(in []byte, cp Compressor, compressor encoding.Compressor) ([]byte, error) {
 	if compressor == nil && cp == nil {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
+	if len(in) == 0 {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
 	wrapErr := func(err error) error {
 		return status.Errorf(codes.Internal, "grpc: error while compressing: %v", err.Error())
 	}
diff --git a/test/compressor_test.go b/test/compressor_test.go
index 91e21e5266e9..a18d14f4ac73 100644
--- a/test/compressor_test.go
+++ b/test/compressor_test.go
@@ -290,6 +290,7 @@ func (s) TestSetSendCompressorSuccess(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, tt := range []struct {
 		name                string
 		desc                string
+		payload             *testpb.Payload
 		dialOpts            []grpc.DialOption
 		resCompressor       string
 		wantCompressInvokes int32
@@ -297,12 +298,21 @@ func (s) TestSetSendCompressorSuccess(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name:                "identity_request_and_gzip_response",
 			desc:                "request is uncompressed and response is gzip compressed",
+			payload:             &testpb.Payload{Body: []byte("payload")},
 			resCompressor:       "gzip",
 			wantCompressInvokes: 1,
 		},
+		{
+			name:                "identity_request_and_empty_response",
+			desc:                "request is uncompressed and response is gzip compressed",
+			payload:             nil,
+			resCompressor:       "gzip",
+			wantCompressInvokes: 0,
+		},
 		{
 			name:          "gzip_request_and_identity_response",
 			desc:          "request is gzip compressed and response is uncompressed with identity",
+			payload:       &testpb.Payload{Body: []byte("payload")},
 			resCompressor: "identity",
 			dialOpts: []grpc.DialOption{
 				// Use WithCompressor instead of UseCompressor to avoid counting
@@ -314,24 +324,26 @@ func (s) TestSetSendCompressorSuccess(t *testing.T) {
 	} {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Run("unary", func(t *testing.T) {
-				testUnarySetSendCompressorSuccess(t, tt.resCompressor, tt.wantCompressInvokes, tt.dialOpts)
+				testUnarySetSendCompressorSuccess(t, tt.payload, tt.resCompressor, tt.wantCompressInvokes, tt.dialOpts)
 			})
 
 			t.Run("stream", func(t *testing.T) {
-				testStreamSetSendCompressorSuccess(t, tt.resCompressor, tt.wantCompressInvokes, tt.dialOpts)
+				testStreamSetSendCompressorSuccess(t, tt.payload, tt.resCompressor, tt.wantCompressInvokes, tt.dialOpts)
 			})
 		})
 	}
 }
 
-func testUnarySetSendCompressorSuccess(t *testing.T, resCompressor string, wantCompressInvokes int32, dialOpts []grpc.DialOption) {
+func testUnarySetSendCompressorSuccess(t *testing.T, payload *testpb.Payload, resCompressor string, wantCompressInvokes int32, dialOpts []grpc.DialOption) {
 	wc := setupGzipWrapCompressor(t)
 	ss := &stubserver.StubServer{
-		EmptyCallF: func(ctx context.Context, in *testpb.Empty) (*testpb.Empty, error) {
+		UnaryCallF: func(ctx context.Context, in *testpb.SimpleRequest) (*testpb.SimpleResponse, error) {
 			if err := grpc.SetSendCompressor(ctx, resCompressor); err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
-			return &testpb.Empty{}, nil
+			return &testpb.SimpleResponse{
+				Payload: payload,
+			}, nil
 		},
 	}
 	if err := ss.Start(nil, dialOpts...); err != nil {
@@ -342,7 +354,7 @@ func testUnarySetSendCompressorSuccess(t *testing.T, resCompressor string, wantC
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), defaultTestTimeout)
 	defer cancel()
 
-	if _, err := ss.Client.EmptyCall(ctx, &testpb.Empty{}); err != nil {
+	if _, err := ss.Client.UnaryCall(ctx, &testpb.SimpleRequest{}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Unexpected unary call error, got: %v, want: nil", err)
 	}
 
@@ -352,7 +364,7 @@ func testUnarySetSendCompressorSuccess(t *testing.T, resCompressor string, wantC
 	}
 }
 
-func testStreamSetSendCompressorSuccess(t *testing.T, resCompressor string, wantCompressInvokes int32, dialOpts []grpc.DialOption) {
+func testStreamSetSendCompressorSuccess(t *testing.T, payload *testpb.Payload, resCompressor string, wantCompressInvokes int32, dialOpts []grpc.DialOption) {
 	wc := setupGzipWrapCompressor(t)
 	ss := &stubserver.StubServer{
 		FullDuplexCallF: func(stream testgrpc.TestService_FullDuplexCallServer) error {
@@ -364,7 +376,9 @@ func testStreamSetSendCompressorSuccess(t *testing.T, resCompressor string, want
 				return err
 			}
 
-			return stream.Send(&testpb.StreamingOutputCallResponse{})
+			return stream.Send(&testpb.StreamingOutputCallResponse{
+				Payload: payload,
+			})
 		},
 	}
 	if err := ss.Start(nil, dialOpts...); err != nil {