diff --git a/evm/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evm/operation/AbstractExtCallOperation.java b/evm/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evm/operation/AbstractExtCallOperation.java
index 5f6c70eb668..2c80007c769 100644
--- a/evm/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evm/operation/AbstractExtCallOperation.java
+++ b/evm/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evm/operation/AbstractExtCallOperation.java
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ public OperationResult execute(final MessageFrame frame, final EVM evm) {
       }
     }
 
-    boolean accountCreation = contract == null && !zeroValue;
+    boolean accountCreation = (contract == null || contract.isEmpty()) && !zeroValue;
     long cost =
         clampedAdd(
             clampedAdd(