diff --git a/cmd/utils/flags.go b/cmd/utils/flags.go
index 6db88ff661..7857c17fe6 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/flags.go
@@ -2186,7 +2186,7 @@ func MakeChain(ctx *cli.Context, stack *node.Node, readonly bool) (*core.BlockCh
 	}
 	if ctx.IsSet(VMTraceFlag.Name) {
 		if name := ctx.String(VMTraceFlag.Name); name != "" {
-			var config json.RawMessage
+			config := json.RawMessage("{}")
 			if ctx.IsSet(VMTraceJsonConfigFlag.Name) {
 				config = json.RawMessage(ctx.String(VMTraceJsonConfigFlag.Name))
 			}
diff --git a/eth/backend.go b/eth/backend.go
index f10d99c3a7..663b0e5fe7 100644
--- a/eth/backend.go
+++ b/eth/backend.go
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ func New(stack *node.Node, config *ethconfig.Config) (*Ethereum, error) {
 		}
 	)
 	if config.VMTrace != "" {
-		var traceConfig json.RawMessage
+		traceConfig := json.RawMessage("{}")
 		if config.VMTraceJsonConfig != "" {
 			traceConfig = json.RawMessage(config.VMTraceJsonConfig)
 		}
diff --git a/eth/tracers/live/supply.go b/eth/tracers/live/supply.go
index 54399b938d..fa4e5b1904 100644
--- a/eth/tracers/live/supply.go
+++ b/eth/tracers/live/supply.go
@@ -92,10 +92,8 @@ type supplyTracerConfig struct {
 
 func newSupplyTracer(cfg json.RawMessage) (*tracing.Hooks, error) {
 	var config supplyTracerConfig
-	if cfg != nil {
-		if err := json.Unmarshal(cfg, &config); err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse config: %v", err)
-		}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(cfg, &config); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse config: %v", err)
 	}
 	if config.Path == "" {
 		return nil, errors.New("supply tracer output path is required")