diff --git a/R/sumstatsQc.R b/R/sumstatsQc.R
index 7c9b180b..d564edcb 100644
--- a/R/sumstatsQc.R
+++ b/R/sumstatsQc.R
@@ -3132,13 +3132,33 @@ krigingOutlierQc <- function(zScore, R, n, variantIds = NULL,
   list(gr = .dfToEntryGranges(df), audit = entryAudit)
 }
 
+# Return `ldSketch` trimmed to zero variants (empty @snpInfo), preserving every
+# other slot (path / format / nSamples / sampleIds / chromPaths). Used when an
+# entry set genuinely carries no variants: the object references no LD, so the
+# correct retained panel is empty rather than the full genome-wide sketch. Edits
+# @snpInfo directly (not .subsetGenotypeHandle) because a zero-variant sketch is
+# never read for extraction, so the fileIdx read-safety guard does not apply --
+# this keeps the empty correct even on a legacy sketch with no fileIdx column.
+# NULL-safe; a no-op when the sketch is already empty.
+# @noRd
+.emptySketch <- function(ldSketch) {
+  if (is.null(ldSketch)) return(NULL)
+  si <- getSnpInfo(ldSketch)
+  if (nrow(si) == 0L) return(ldSketch)
+  ldSketch@snpInfo <- si[integer(0), , drop = FALSE]
+  rownames(ldSketch@snpInfo) <- NULL
+  ldSketch
+}
+
 # Shrink an LD-sketch GenotypeHandle to the panel variants inside the summary
 # statistics' per-chromosome position span. `entries` is a list/SimpleList of
 # per-study (or per-tuple) GRanges. A genome-wide sketch otherwise carries a
 # full-genome snpInfo; only variants inside [min,max] BP of each represented
 # chromosome are reachable by harmonization or within-range imputation, so the
-# rest is dropped at load time. NULL-safe; a no-op when the span already covers
-# the panel. See [[.subsetGenotypeHandle]] for why this is read-safe.
+# rest is dropped at load time. With zero variants there is no span to keep, so
+# the sketch is emptied (a zero-variant object references no LD). NULL-safe; a
+# no-op when the span already covers the panel. See [[.subsetGenotypeHandle]] for
+# why this is read-safe.
 # @noRd
 .subsetSketchToRange <- function(ldSketch, entries) {
   if (is.null(ldSketch)) return(NULL)
@@ -3148,7 +3168,7 @@ krigingOutlierQc <- function(zScore, R, n, variantIds = NULL,
     as.integer(GenomicRanges::start(gr))), use.names = FALSE)
   ok <- !is.na(chrom) & !is.na(pos)
   chrom <- chrom[ok]; pos <- pos[ok]
-  if (length(pos) == 0L) return(ldSketch)
+  if (length(pos) == 0L) return(.emptySketch(ldSketch))
   lo <- tapply(pos, chrom, min)
   hi <- tapply(pos, chrom, max)
   si <- getSnpInfo(ldSketch)
@@ -3163,10 +3183,19 @@ krigingOutlierQc <- function(zScore, R, n, variantIds = NULL,
 # Shrink an LD-sketch GenotypeHandle to EXACTLY the variants present across the
 # QC'd `entries` (imputation may have added variants; QC may have dropped some),
 # matched by canonical variant id. Applied at the end of summaryStatsQc so the
-# retained sketch mirrors the object's final variant set. NULL-safe.
+# retained sketch mirrors the object's final variant set. When the entries carry
+# zero variants (e.g. a study that early-exited QC) the sketch is emptied rather
+# than left full. NULL-safe.
 # @noRd
 .subsetSketchToIds <- function(ldSketch, entries) {
   if (is.null(ldSketch)) return(NULL)
+  # Genuine variant count (ranges) across entries, independent of the SNP mcol:
+  # zero ranges means the object references no LD, so the panel is emptied. This
+  # is distinct from the pathological "ranges present but SNP mcol absent" case
+  # below, which stays conservative (full sketch) rather than blanking.
+  nRanges <- sum(vapply(entries, function(gr)
+    if (is.null(gr)) 0L else length(gr), integer(1)))
+  if (nRanges == 0L) return(.emptySketch(ldSketch))
   ids <- unlist(lapply(entries, function(gr) {
     if (is.null(gr)) return(character(0))
     snp <- S4Vectors::mcols(gr)$SNP
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_sumstatsQc.R b/tests/testthat/test_sumstatsQc.R
index 4b9d37d2..c4b25815 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_sumstatsQc.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_sumstatsQc.R
@@ -5627,6 +5627,43 @@ test_that(".subsetSketchToIds keeps exactly the entries' variants", {
   expect_setequal(normalizeVariantId(sub$SNP), normalizeVariantId(si$SNP[sel]))
 })
 
+test_that("zero-variant entries empty the sketch (both trimmers), not keep the full panel", {
+  h    <- readGenotypes(test_path("test_data/test_variants"), format = "plink2")
+  full <- nrow(getSnpInfo(h))
+  expect_gt(full, 0L)
+  # an empty list and a zero-range GRanges both represent zero variants.
+  for (entries in list(list(), list(GenomicRanges::GRanges()))) {
+    r <- pecotmr:::.subsetSketchToRange(h, entries)
+    i <- pecotmr:::.subsetSketchToIds(h, entries)
+    expect_identical(nrow(getSnpInfo(r)), 0L)
+    expect_identical(nrow(getSnpInfo(i)), 0L)
+    expect_identical(getNSamples(r), getNSamples(h))  # other slots preserved
+    expect_true(validObject(r))
+  }
+})
+
+test_that(".subsetSketchToIds stays conservative when entries have ranges but no SNP mcol", {
+  h   <- readGenotypes(test_path("test_data/test_variants"), format = "plink2")
+  si  <- getSnpInfo(h)
+  sel <- c(3L, 10L, 40L)
+  gr  <- GenomicRanges::GRanges(paste0("chr", si$CHR[sel]),
+           IRanges::IRanges(as.integer(si$BP[sel]), width = 1L))  # no SNP mcol
+  # ranges present (not zero-variant), ids unextractable -> full sketch, not emptied.
+  expect_identical(nrow(getSnpInfo(pecotmr:::.subsetSketchToIds(h, list(gr)))),
+                   nrow(si))
+})
+
+test_that(".emptySketch zeros snpInfo, preserves slots, is NULL-safe and idempotent", {
+  h <- readGenotypes(test_path("test_data/test_variants"), format = "plink2")
+  e <- pecotmr:::.emptySketch(h)
+  expect_identical(nrow(getSnpInfo(e)), 0L)
+  expect_identical(getNSamples(e), getNSamples(h))
+  expect_identical(getFormat(e),   getFormat(h))
+  expect_true(validObject(e))
+  expect_identical(nrow(getSnpInfo(pecotmr:::.emptySketch(e))), 0L)  # idempotent
+  expect_null(pecotmr:::.emptySketch(NULL))
+})
+
 test_that(".subsetSketchToRange / .subsetSketchToIds are NULL-safe", {
   expect_null(pecotmr:::.subsetSketchToRange(NULL, list()))
   expect_null(pecotmr:::.subsetSketchToIds(NULL, list()))