diff --git a/src/ipc/capnp/common-types.h b/src/ipc/capnp/common-types.h
index 309799b8aff..9b6fa464de9 100644
--- a/src/ipc/capnp/common-types.h
+++ b/src/ipc/capnp/common-types.h
@@ -127,6 +127,18 @@ decltype(auto) CustomReadField(TypeList<UniValue>, Priority<1>, InvokeContext& i
     });
 }
 
+//! Interpret empty Data fields as null CTransactionRef values. This is safe to
+//! do because no CTransaction is ever serialized as empty Data, and it is
+//! convenient because this allows std::vector<CTransactionRef> to be passed as
+//! List(Data) even if the vector contains null values, and even though Cap'n
+//! Proto does not (currently) allow distinguishing between null and empty Data
+//! values in a List. Interpreting empty Data values as null CTransactionRef
+//! values works well for this purpose.
+template <typename Input>
+bool CustomHasField(TypeList<CTransaction>, InvokeContext& invoke_context, const Input& input)
+{
+    return input.get().size() > 0;
+}
 } // namespace mp
 
 #endif // BITCOIN_IPC_CAPNP_COMMON_TYPES_H
diff --git a/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.capnp b/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.capnp
index adb92825116..4aa196b6f52 100644
--- a/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.capnp
+++ b/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.capnp
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ interface FooInterface $Proxy.wrap("FooImplementation") {
     passOutPoint @1 (arg :Data) -> (result :Data);
     passUniValue @2 (arg :Text) -> (result :Text);
     passTransaction @3 (arg :Data) -> (result :Data);
+    passTransactions @6 (arg :List(Data)) -> (result :List(Data));
     passVectorChar @4 (arg :Data) -> (result :Data);
     passScript @5 (arg :Data) -> (result :Data);
 }
diff --git a/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.cpp b/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.cpp
index 46366cef1f0..d5c689501da 100644
--- a/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.cpp
+++ b/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.cpp
@@ -103,6 +103,14 @@ void IpcPipeTest()
     CTransactionRef tx2{foo->passTransaction(tx1)};
     BOOST_CHECK(*Assert(tx1) == *Assert(tx2));
 
+    std::vector<CTransactionRef> txs1;
+    txs1.push_back(tx1);
+    txs1.push_back(nullptr);
+    std::vector<CTransactionRef> txs2(foo->passTransactions(txs1));
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(txs2.size(), 2);
+    BOOST_CHECK(*Assert(txs1[0]) == *Assert(txs2[0]));
+    BOOST_CHECK(!txs2[1]);
+
     std::vector<char> vec1{'H', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o'};
     std::vector<char> vec2{foo->passVectorChar(vec1)};
     BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(std::string_view(vec1.begin(), vec1.end()), std::string_view(vec2.begin(), vec2.end()));
diff --git a/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.h b/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.h
index 8ef3bc90fb3..392f2b48826 100644
--- a/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.h
+++ b/src/ipc/test/ipc_test.h
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ public:
     COutPoint passOutPoint(COutPoint o) { return o; }
     UniValue passUniValue(UniValue v) { return v; }
     CTransactionRef passTransaction(CTransactionRef t) { return t; }
+    std::vector<CTransactionRef> passTransactions(std::vector<CTransactionRef> t) { return t; }
     std::vector<char> passVectorChar(std::vector<char> v) { return v; }
     BlockValidationState passBlockState(BlockValidationState s) { return s; }
     CScript passScript(CScript s) { return s; }
diff --git a/src/node/interfaces.cpp b/src/node/interfaces.cpp
index 2f68f414f0d..641252d2afa 100644
--- a/src/node/interfaces.cpp
+++ b/src/node/interfaces.cpp
@@ -919,6 +919,7 @@ public:
 
     bool submitSolution(uint32_t version, uint32_t timestamp, uint32_t nonce, CTransactionRef coinbase) override
     {
+        if (!coinbase) return false;
         AddMerkleRootAndCoinbase(m_block_template->block, std::move(coinbase), version, timestamp, nonce);
         std::string reason;
         std::string debug;
diff --git a/test/functional/interface_ipc_mining.py b/test/functional/interface_ipc_mining.py
index 4cd9c17c99f..b5a0328042c 100755
--- a/test/functional/interface_ipc_mining.py
+++ b/test/functional/interface_ipc_mining.py
@@ -511,9 +511,13 @@ class IPCMiningTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
                 # lets node 2 accept/reject complete blocks independently.
                 self.disconnect_nodes(1, 2)
 
+                self.log.debug("submitSolution should reject an empty coinbase")
+                submitted = (await template.submitSolution(ctx, 0, 0, 0, b"")).result
+                assert_equal(submitted, False)
+
                 self.log.debug("Submit solution that can't be deserialized")
                 try:
-                    await template.submitSolution(ctx, 0, 0, 0, b"")
+                    await template.submitSolution(ctx, 0, 0, 0, b"\x00")
                     raise AssertionError("submitSolution unexpectedly succeeded")
                 except capnp.lib.capnp.KjException as e:
                     assert_capnp_failed(e, "remote exception: std::exception: SpanReader::read(): end of data:")
@@ -654,6 +658,13 @@ class IPCMiningTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
                 raise AssertionError("submitBlock unexpectedly succeeded")
             except capnp.lib.capnp.KjException as e:
                 assert_capnp_failed(e, "remote exception: std::exception: SpanReader::read(): end of data:")
+
+            self.log.debug("Submit empty block data")
+            try:
+                await mining2.submitBlock(ctx2, b"")
+                raise AssertionError("submitBlock unexpectedly succeeded")
+            except capnp.lib.capnp.KjException as e:
+                assert_capnp_failed(e, "remote exception: std::exception: SpanReader::read(): end of data:")
             assert_equal(self.nodes[2].is_node_stopped(), False)
 
         asyncio.run(capnp.run(async_routine()))