diff --git a/arbos/arbosState/initialize.go b/arbos/arbosState/initialize.go
index c44febf386..56fa579c15 100644
--- a/arbos/arbosState/initialize.go
+++ b/arbos/arbosState/initialize.go
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@ package arbosState
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"math/big"
+	"regexp"
 	"sort"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/rawdb"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/state"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/types"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/ethdb"
@@ -64,6 +66,8 @@ func InitializeArbosInDatabase(db ethdb.Database, cacheConfig *core.CacheConfig,
 		log.Crit("failed to init empty statedb", "error", err)
 	}
 
+	noStateTrieChangesToCommitError := regexp.MustCompile("^triedb layer .+ is disk layer$")
+
 	// commit avoids keeping the entire state in memory while importing the state.
 	// At some time it was also used to avoid reprocessing the whole import in case of a crash.
 	commit := func() (common.Hash, error) {
@@ -73,7 +77,11 @@ func InitializeArbosInDatabase(db ethdb.Database, cacheConfig *core.CacheConfig,
 		}
 		err = stateDatabase.TrieDB().Commit(root, true)
 		if err != nil {
-			return common.Hash{}, err
+			// pathdb returns an error when there are no state trie changes to commit and we try to commit.
+			// This checks if the error is the expected one and ignores it.
+			if (cacheConfig.StateScheme != rawdb.PathScheme) || !noStateTrieChangesToCommitError.MatchString(err.Error()) {
+				return common.Hash{}, err
+			}
 		}
 		statedb, err = state.New(root, stateDatabase, nil)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/nitro/init_test.go b/cmd/nitro/init_test.go
index 6171f631cc..7375a8ab49 100644
--- a/cmd/nitro/init_test.go
+++ b/cmd/nitro/init_test.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/offchainlabs/nitro/cmd/conf"
 	"github.com/offchainlabs/nitro/execution/gethexec"
 	"github.com/offchainlabs/nitro/util/testhelpers"
+	"github.com/offchainlabs/nitro/util/testhelpers/env"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -506,3 +507,38 @@ func TestPurgeVersion0WasmStoreEntries(t *testing.T) {
 	checkKeys(t, db, collidedKeys, true)
 	checkKeys(t, db, otherKeys, true)
 }
+
+func TestOpenInitializeChainDbEmptyInit(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+
+	stackConfig := testhelpers.CreateStackConfigForTest(t.TempDir())
+	stack, err := node.New(stackConfig)
+	defer stack.Close()
+	Require(t, err)
+
+	nodeConfig := NodeConfigDefault
+	nodeConfig.Execution.Caching.StateScheme = env.GetTestStateScheme()
+	nodeConfig.Chain.ID = 42161
+	nodeConfig.Node = *arbnode.ConfigDefaultL2Test()
+	nodeConfig.Init.Empty = true
+
+	l1Client := ethclient.NewClient(stack.Attach())
+
+	chainDb, blockchain, err := openInitializeChainDb(
+		ctx,
+		stack,
+		&nodeConfig,
+		new(big.Int).SetUint64(nodeConfig.Chain.ID),
+		gethexec.DefaultCacheConfigFor(stack, &nodeConfig.Execution.Caching),
+		&nodeConfig.Persistent,
+		l1Client,
+		chaininfo.RollupAddresses{},
+	)
+	Require(t, err)
+	blockchain.Stop()
+	err = chainDb.Close()
+	Require(t, err)
+}