diff --git a/yarn-project/aztec.js/src/contract/deploy_method.ts b/yarn-project/aztec.js/src/contract/deploy_method.ts
index 92bbab14bc4..f028556ef44 100644
--- a/yarn-project/aztec.js/src/contract/deploy_method.ts
+++ b/yarn-project/aztec.js/src/contract/deploy_method.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,10 @@ export class DeployMethod<TContract extends ContractBase = Contract> extends Bas
    */
   public async create(options: DeployOptions = {}): Promise<TxExecutionRequest> {
     if (!this.txRequest) {
+      const calls = await this.request(options);
+      if (calls.length === 0) {
+        throw new Error(`No function calls needed to deploy contract ${this.artifact.name}`);
+      }
       this.txRequest = await this.wallet.createTxExecutionRequest(await this.request(options));
       // TODO: Should we add the contracts to the DB here, or once the tx has been sent or mined?
       await this.pxe.addContracts([{ artifact: this.artifact, instance: this.instance! }]);
diff --git a/yarn-project/end-to-end/src/e2e_deploy_contract.test.ts b/yarn-project/end-to-end/src/e2e_deploy_contract.test.ts
index d7c932ad855..b6ca78c82bb 100644
--- a/yarn-project/end-to-end/src/e2e_deploy_contract.test.ts
+++ b/yarn-project/end-to-end/src/e2e_deploy_contract.test.ts
@@ -503,13 +503,13 @@ describe('e2e_deploy_contract', () => {
       logger.debug(`Call a public function to check that it was publicly deployed`);
       const receipt = await contract.methods.emit_unencrypted(42).send().wait();
       const logs = await pxe.getUnencryptedLogs({ txHash: receipt.txHash });
-      expect(logs.logs[0].log.data.toString('hex')).toEqual('2a');
+      expect(logs.logs[0].log.data.toString('hex').replace(/^0+/, '')).toEqual('2a');
     });
 
-    it('deploys a contract with no constructor and no public deployment as a noop', async () => {
+    it('refuses to deploy a contract with no constructor and no public deployment', async () => {
       logger.debug(`Deploying contract with no constructor and skipping public deploy`);
       const opts = { skipPublicDeployment: true, skipClassRegistration: true };
-      await TestContract.deploy(wallet).send(opts).deployed();
+      await expect(TestContract.deploy(wallet).simulate(opts)).rejects.toThrow(/no function calls needed/i);
     });
 
     it.skip('publicly deploys and calls a public function in the same batched call', async () => {