diff --git a/rpc/src/v1/impls/eth.rs b/rpc/src/v1/impls/eth.rs
index b0d6abcf0..2d337e73c 100644
--- a/rpc/src/v1/impls/eth.rs
+++ b/rpc/src/v1/impls/eth.rs
@@ -212,6 +212,7 @@ fn from_params_default_third<F1, F2>(params: Params) -> Result<(F1, F2, BlockNum
 
 // must be in range [-32099, -32000]
 const UNSUPPORTED_REQUEST_CODE: i64 = -32000;
+const NO_WORK_CODE: i64 = -32001;
 
 fn make_unsupported_err() -> Error {
 	Error {
@@ -221,6 +222,14 @@ fn make_unsupported_err() -> Error {
 	}
 }
 
+fn no_work_err() -> Error {
+	Error {
+		code: ErrorCode::ServerError(NO_WORK_CODE),
+		message: "Still syncing.".into(),
+		data: None
+	}
+}
+
 impl<C, S, A, M, EM> Eth for EthClient<C, S, A, M, EM> where
 	C: MiningBlockChainClient + 'static,
 	S: SyncProvider + 'static,
@@ -460,7 +469,7 @@ impl<C, S, A, M, EM> Eth for EthClient<C, S, A, M, EM> where
 					//let sync = take_weak!(self.sync);
 					if /*sync.status().state != SyncState::Idle ||*/ client.queue_info().total_queue_size() > MAX_QUEUE_SIZE_TO_MINE_ON {
 						trace!(target: "miner", "Syncing. Cannot give any work.");
-						return to_value(&(String::new(), String::new(), String::new()));
+						return Err(no_work_err());
 					}
 				}
 
diff --git a/rpc/src/v1/tests/mocked/eth.rs b/rpc/src/v1/tests/mocked/eth.rs
index 34708e232..45f8bd366 100644
--- a/rpc/src/v1/tests/mocked/eth.rs
+++ b/rpc/src/v1/tests/mocked/eth.rs
@@ -732,7 +732,7 @@ fn returns_no_work_if_cant_mine() {
 	eth_tester.client.set_queue_size(10);
 
 	let request = r#"{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "eth_getWork", "params": [], "id": 1}"#;
-	let response = r#"{"jsonrpc":"2.0","result":["","",""],"id":1}"#;
+	let response = r#"{"jsonrpc":"2.0","error":{"code":-32001,"message":"Still syncing.","data":null},"id":1}"#;
 
 	assert_eq!(eth_tester.io.handle_request(request), Some(response.to_owned()));
 }