diff --git a/src/fsfw/tmtcpacket/ccsds/SpacePacketCreator.cpp b/src/fsfw/tmtcpacket/ccsds/SpacePacketCreator.cpp
index 745d5834..550f0e1a 100644
--- a/src/fsfw/tmtcpacket/ccsds/SpacePacketCreator.cpp
+++ b/src/fsfw/tmtcpacket/ccsds/SpacePacketCreator.cpp
@@ -43,9 +43,10 @@ ReturnValue_t SpacePacketCreator::serialize(uint8_t **buffer, size_t *size, size
 
 void SpacePacketCreator::setCcsdsLenFromTotalDataFieldLen(size_t actualLength) {
   if (actualLength == 0) {
-    return;
+    setDataLenField(actualLength);
+  } else {
+    setDataLenField(actualLength - 1);
   }
-  setDataLenField(actualLength - 1);
 }
 size_t SpacePacketCreator::getSerializedSize() const { return ccsds::HEADER_LEN; }