diff --git a/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/VerkleTrieBatchHasher.java b/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/VerkleTrieBatchHasher.java
index d6ccd65..16ae3d5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/VerkleTrieBatchHasher.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/VerkleTrieBatchHasher.java
@@ -59,16 +59,19 @@ public class VerkleTrieBatchHasher {
    * Adds a node for future batching. If the node is a NullNode or NullLeafNode and the location is
    * not empty, it removes the node from the batch.
    *
-   * @param location The location of the node.
+   * @param maybeLocation The location of the node.
    * @param node The node to add.
    */
-  public void addNodeToBatch(final Optional<Bytes> location, final Node<?> node) {
-    if ((node instanceof NullNode<?> || node instanceof NullLeafNode<?>)
-        && !location.orElseThrow().isEmpty()) {
-      updatedNodes.remove(location.orElseThrow());
-    } else {
-      updatedNodes.put(location.orElseThrow(), node);
-    }
+  public void addNodeToBatch(final Optional<Bytes> maybeLocation, final Node<?> node) {
+    maybeLocation.ifPresent(
+        location -> {
+          if ((node instanceof NullNode<?> || node instanceof NullLeafNode<?>)
+              && !location.isEmpty()) {
+            updatedNodes.remove(location);
+          } else {
+            updatedNodes.put(location, node);
+          }
+        });
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/SimpleBatchedVerkleTrieTest.java b/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/SimpleBatchedVerkleTrieTest.java
index d7c3bd8..66335dc 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/SimpleBatchedVerkleTrieTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/SimpleBatchedVerkleTrieTest.java
@@ -50,6 +50,21 @@ public void testOneValue() {
     assertThat(trie.getRootHash()).as("Retrieve root hash").isEqualByComparingTo(expectedRootHash);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testDeleteAlreadyDeletedValue() {
+    final VerkleTrieBatchHasher batchProcessor = new VerkleTrieBatchHasher();
+    SimpleBatchedVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32> trie =
+        new SimpleBatchedVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32>(batchProcessor);
+    Bytes32 key =
+        Bytes32.fromHexString("0x00112233445566778899aabbccddeeff00112233445566778899aabbccddeeff");
+    Bytes32 value =
+        Bytes32.fromHexString("0x1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000");
+    trie.put(key, value);
+    trie.remove(key);
+    trie.remove(key);
+    assertThat(trie.getRootHash()).isEqualTo(Bytes32.ZERO);
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testTwoValuesAtSameStem() throws Exception {
     final VerkleTrieBatchHasher batchProcessor = new VerkleTrieBatchHasher();
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/SimpleVerkleTrieTest.java b/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/SimpleVerkleTrieTest.java
index af3b17e..f83cff9 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/SimpleVerkleTrieTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/SimpleVerkleTrieTest.java
@@ -47,6 +47,19 @@ public void testOneValue() {
     assertThat(trie.getRootHash()).as("Retrieve root hash").isEqualByComparingTo(expectedRootHash);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testDeleteAlreadyDeletedValue() {
+    SimpleVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32> trie = new SimpleVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32>();
+    Bytes32 key =
+        Bytes32.fromHexString("0x00112233445566778899aabbccddeeff00112233445566778899aabbccddeeff");
+    Bytes32 value =
+        Bytes32.fromHexString("0x1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000");
+    trie.put(key, value);
+    trie.remove(key);
+    trie.remove(key);
+    assertThat(trie.getRootHash()).isEqualTo(Bytes32.ZERO);
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testTwoValuesAtSameStem() throws Exception {
     SimpleVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32> trie = new SimpleVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32>();
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/StoredBatchedVerkleTrieTest.java b/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/StoredBatchedVerkleTrieTest.java
index 0325cbc..979ca75 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/StoredBatchedVerkleTrieTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/StoredBatchedVerkleTrieTest.java
@@ -68,6 +68,27 @@ public void testOneValue() {
     assertThat(storedTrie.get(key).orElse(null)).as("Retrieved value").isEqualTo(value);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testDeleteAlreadyDeletedValue() {
+    NodeUpdaterMock nodeUpdater = new NodeUpdaterMock();
+    NodeLoaderMock nodeLoader = new NodeLoaderMock(nodeUpdater.storage);
+    VerkleTrieBatchHasher batchProcessor = new VerkleTrieBatchHasher();
+    StoredNodeFactory<Bytes32> nodeFactory =
+        new StoredNodeFactory<>(nodeLoader, value -> (Bytes32) value);
+    StoredBatchedVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32> trie =
+        new StoredBatchedVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32>(batchProcessor, nodeFactory);
+    Bytes32 key =
+        Bytes32.fromHexString("0x00112233445566778899aabbccddeeff00112233445566778899aabbccddeeff");
+    Bytes32 value =
+        Bytes32.fromHexString("0x1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000");
+    trie.put(key, value);
+    trie.remove(key);
+    trie.remove(key);
+    StoredBatchedVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32> storedTrie =
+        new StoredBatchedVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32>(batchProcessor, nodeFactory);
+    assertThat(storedTrie.getRootHash()).isEqualTo(Bytes32.ZERO);
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testTwoValuesAtSameStem() throws Exception {
     NodeUpdaterMock nodeUpdater = new NodeUpdaterMock();
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/StoredVerkleTrieTest.java b/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/StoredVerkleTrieTest.java
index b6b225b..1ec7fa5 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/StoredVerkleTrieTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/trie/verkle/StoredVerkleTrieTest.java
@@ -64,6 +64,23 @@ public void testOneValue() {
     assertThat(storedTrie.get(key).orElse(null)).as("Retrieved value").isEqualTo(value);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testDeleteAlreadyDeletedValue() {
+    NodeUpdaterMock nodeUpdater = new NodeUpdaterMock();
+    NodeLoaderMock nodeLoader = new NodeLoaderMock(nodeUpdater.storage);
+    StoredNodeFactory<Bytes32> nodeFactory =
+        new StoredNodeFactory<>(nodeLoader, value -> (Bytes32) value);
+    StoredVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32> trie = new StoredVerkleTrie<Bytes32, Bytes32>(nodeFactory);
+    Bytes32 key =
+        Bytes32.fromHexString("0x00112233445566778899aabbccddeeff00112233445566778899aabbccddeeff");
+    Bytes32 value =
+        Bytes32.fromHexString("0x1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000");
+    trie.put(key, value);
+    trie.remove(key);
+    trie.remove(key);
+    assertThat(trie.getRootHash()).isEqualTo(Bytes32.ZERO);
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testTwoValuesAtSameStem() throws Exception {
     NodeUpdaterMock nodeUpdater = new NodeUpdaterMock();