diff --git a/clvm/SExp.py b/clvm/SExp.py
index 9901849c..c368a2c7 100644
--- a/clvm/SExp.py
+++ b/clvm/SExp.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def looks_like_clvm_object(o: typing.Any) -> bool:
 
 # this function recognizes some common types and turns them into plain bytes,
 def convert_atom_to_bytes(
-    v: typing.Union[bytes, str, int, None, list],
+    v: typing.Union[bytes, str, int, None],
 ) -> bytes:
 
     if isinstance(v, bytes):
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@ def convert_atom_to_bytes(
         return int_to_bytes(v)
     if v is None:
         return b""
-    if v == []:
-        return b""
     if hasattr(v, "__bytes__"):
         return bytes(v)
 
diff --git a/tests/to_sexp_test.py b/tests/to_sexp_test.py
index 92258ad9..73787a8f 100644
--- a/tests/to_sexp_test.py
+++ b/tests/to_sexp_test.py
@@ -163,7 +163,6 @@ def test_convert_atom(self):
 
         assert convert_atom_to_bytes(b"foobar") == b"foobar"
         assert convert_atom_to_bytes(None) == b""
-        assert convert_atom_to_bytes([]) == b""
 
         assert convert_atom_to_bytes(DummyByteConvertible()) == b"foobar"