@@ -123,8 +123,6 @@ def step(self, value: bytes) -> None:
 
     def finalize(self) -> bytes:
         """Return the final aggregated result."""
-        if not self.result_nbytes:
-            return b""
         return self.result.to_bytes(self.result_nbytes, "little")
 
 
 
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ def _reap_dead_thread_dbs(self) -> None:
                     self._debug.write(f"Reaping dead thread's data file: {db!r}")
                 try:
                     db.close(force=True)
-                except Exception:
+                except Exception:  # pragma: cant happen
                     # Closing is best-effort; a failure here must not break
                     # collection. The entry has already been dropped.
                     pass