diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 4f8c6fb..91afe94 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "0.1.23"
+  ".": "0.1.24"
 }
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fec9946..22aef72 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [0.1.24](https://github.com/cloudquery/plugin-sdk-python/compare/v0.1.23...v0.1.24) (2024-05-24)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* Set spec to `b"{}"` on empty input ([#174](https://github.com/cloudquery/plugin-sdk-python/issues/174)) ([3f46922](https://github.com/cloudquery/plugin-sdk-python/commit/3f469227003f0df101df36724bfc6019411b9bf0))
+
 ## [0.1.23](https://github.com/cloudquery/plugin-sdk-python/compare/v0.1.22...v0.1.23) (2024-05-17)
 
 
diff --git a/cloudquery/sdk/internal/memdb/memdb.py b/cloudquery/sdk/internal/memdb/memdb.py
index e9315fd..aa1c9e8 100644
--- a/cloudquery/sdk/internal/memdb/memdb.py
+++ b/cloudquery/sdk/internal/memdb/memdb.py
@@ -1,14 +1,22 @@
+import json
+
 from cloudquery.sdk import plugin
 from cloudquery.sdk import message
 from cloudquery.sdk import schema
 from typing import List, Generator, Dict
 import pyarrow as pa
 from cloudquery.sdk.types import JSONType
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 
 NAME = "memdb"
 VERSION = "development"
 
 
+@dataclass
+class Spec:
+    abc: str = field(default="abc")
+
+
 class MemDB(plugin.Plugin):
     def __init__(self) -> None:
         super().__init__(
@@ -73,6 +81,12 @@ def __init__(self) -> None:
             ),
         }
 
+    def init(self, spec, no_connection: bool = False):
+        if no_connection:
+            return
+        self._spec_json = json.loads(spec)
+        self._spec = Spec(**self._spec_json)
+
     def get_tables(self, options: plugin.TableOptions = None) -> List[plugin.Table]:
         tables = list(self._tables.values())
         return schema.filter_dfs(tables, options.tables, options.skip_tables)
diff --git a/cloudquery/sdk/internal/servers/plugin_v3/plugin.py b/cloudquery/sdk/internal/servers/plugin_v3/plugin.py
index 8246085..e8a94ae 100644
--- a/cloudquery/sdk/internal/servers/plugin_v3/plugin.py
+++ b/cloudquery/sdk/internal/servers/plugin_v3/plugin.py
@@ -32,7 +32,9 @@ def GetSpecSchema(self, request, context):
         return plugin_pb2.GetSpecSchema.Response(json_schema=self._plugin.json_schema())
 
     def Init(self, request: plugin_pb2.Init.Request, context):
-        self._plugin.init(request.spec, no_connection=request.no_connection)
+        self._plugin.init(
+            sanitize_spec(request.spec), no_connection=request.no_connection
+        )
         return plugin_pb2.Init.Response()
 
     def GetTables(self, request: plugin_pb2.GetTables.Request, context):
@@ -113,3 +115,7 @@ def msg_iterator() -> Generator[WriteMessage, None, None]:
     def Close(self, request, context):
         self._plugin.close()
         return plugin_pb2.Close.Response()
+
+
+def sanitize_spec(spec=None):
+    return b"{}" if spec is None or spec == b"" or spec == b"null" else spec
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ec5272c..344cada 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
 ]
 setuptools.setup(
     name=name,
-    version="0.1.23",
+    version="0.1.24",
     description=description,
     long_description=long_description,
     author="CloudQuery LTD",
diff --git a/tests/internal/memdb/memdb.py b/tests/internal/memdb/memdb.py
index 546d109..5b75f38 100644
--- a/tests/internal/memdb/memdb.py
+++ b/tests/internal/memdb/memdb.py
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 from cloudquery.sdk.internal import memdb
+from cloudquery.sdk.internal.servers.plugin_v3 import plugin
 from cloudquery.sdk.plugin import SyncOptions
 
 
 def test_memdb():
     p = memdb.MemDB()
-    p.init(None)
+    p.init(plugin.sanitize_spec(b"null"))
     msgs = []
     for msg in p.sync(SyncOptions(tables=["*"])):
         msgs.append(msg)