diff --git a/packages/statemanager/src/stateManager.ts b/packages/statemanager/src/stateManager.ts
index e973137b95..7717544676 100644
--- a/packages/statemanager/src/stateManager.ts
+++ b/packages/statemanager/src/stateManager.ts
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ export class DefaultStateManager implements StateManagerInterface {
 
     const account = await this.getAccount(address)
     if (!account) {
-      throw new Error('getStorage() called on non-existing account')
+      return new Uint8Array()
     }
     const trie = this._getStorageTrie(address, account)
     const value = await trie.get(key)
@@ -544,7 +544,6 @@ export class DefaultStateManager implements StateManagerInterface {
     await this.flush()
     const account = await this.getAccount(address)
     if (!account) {
-      // throw new Error(`getProof() can only be called for an existing account`)
       const returnValue: Proof = {
         address: address.toString(),
         balance: '0x0',
diff --git a/packages/statemanager/test/stateManager.spec.ts b/packages/statemanager/test/stateManager.spec.ts
index 2ec8bbb856..f3f466a8da 100644
--- a/packages/statemanager/test/stateManager.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/statemanager/test/stateManager.spec.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
   intToBytes,
   setLengthLeft,
   utf8ToBytes,
+  zeros,
 } from '@ethereumjs/util'
 import { assert, describe, it } from 'vitest'
 
@@ -43,6 +44,17 @@ describe('StateManager -> General', () => {
     assert.deepEqual(res, KECCAK256_RLP, 'it has default root')
   })
 
+  it('should not throw on getContractStorage() on non-existing accounts', async () => {
+    const sm = new DefaultStateManager()
+
+    try {
+      const storage = await sm.getStorage(createZeroAddress(), zeros(32))
+      assert.ok(equalsBytes(storage, new Uint8Array()))
+    } catch {
+      assert.fail('should not throw')
+    }
+  })
+
   it(`should clear contract storage`, async () => {
     const sm = new DefaultStateManager()