diff --git a/pkg/eth/debug_test/debug_test.go b/pkg/eth/debug_test/debug_test.go
index 64fd9e05..09512254 100644
--- a/pkg/eth/debug_test/debug_test.go
+++ b/pkg/eth/debug_test/debug_test.go
@@ -144,12 +144,11 @@ var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 
 	tracingAPI, _ = eth.NewTracingAPI(backend, nil, eth.APIConfig{StateDiffTimeout: shared.DefaultStateDiffTimeout})
-
+	tb.teardown()
 })
 
 var _ = AfterSuite(func() {
 	shared.TearDownDB(db)
-	tb.teardown()
 })
 
 var (
@@ -302,7 +301,7 @@ var _ = Describe("eth state reading tests", func() {
 					Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 					have, _ := json.Marshal(result)
 					want := tc.want
-					Expect(have).To(Equal(want))
+					Expect(string(have)).To(Equal(want))
 				}
 			}
 		})
diff --git a/pkg/eth/tracing.go b/pkg/eth/tracing.go
index a201f180..7c8e6982 100644
--- a/pkg/eth/tracing.go
+++ b/pkg/eth/tracing.go
@@ -236,9 +236,14 @@ type txTraceResult struct {
 	Error  string      `json:"error,omitempty"`  // Trace failure produced by the tracer
 }
 
+var noGenesisErr = errors.New("genesis is not traceable")
+
 // TraceBlockByNumber returns the structured logs created during the execution of
 // EVM and returns them as a JSON object.
 func (api *TracingAPI) TraceBlockByNumber(ctx context.Context, number rpc.BlockNumber, config *TraceConfig) ([]*txTraceResult, error) {
+	if number == 0 {
+		return nil, noGenesisErr
+	}
 	block, err := api.blockByNumber(ctx, number)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -263,6 +268,9 @@ func (api *TracingAPI) TraceBlockByHash(ctx context.Context, hash common.Hash, c
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	if block.NumberU64() == 0 {
+		return nil, noGenesisErr
+	}
 	trace, err := api.traceBlock(ctx, block, config)
 	if trace != nil && err == nil {
 		return trace, nil