diff --git a/src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/ImmutableContext.java b/src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/ImmutableContext.java
index 150f9c171..dc3a22b49 100644
--- a/src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/ImmutableContext.java
+++ b/src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/ImmutableContext.java
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ public String getTargetingKey() {
     @Override
     public EvaluationContext merge(EvaluationContext overridingContext) {
         if (overridingContext == null || overridingContext.isEmpty()) {
+            if (this.isEmpty()) {
+                return ImmutableContext.EMPTY;
+            }
             return new ImmutableContext(this.asUnmodifiableMap());
         }
         if (this.isEmpty()) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/ImmutableContextTest.java b/src/test/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/ImmutableContextTest.java
index 7d8210be4..bb049a76d 100644
--- a/src/test/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/ImmutableContextTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/ImmutableContextTest.java
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package dev.openfeature.sdk;
 
 import static dev.openfeature.sdk.EvaluationContext.TARGETING_KEY;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertArrayEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotEquals;
@@ -216,6 +217,69 @@ void immutableContextHashCodeIsStable() {
         assertEquals(first, second);
     }
 
+    @Nested
+    @DisplayName("ImmutableContext(String, Map) branch logic")
+    class ConstructorBranches {
+
+        @Test
+        @DisplayName("non-null targeting key with empty attributes is preserved")
+        void nonNullTargetingKeyWithEmptyAttributesIsPreserved() {
+            ImmutableContext ctx = new ImmutableContext("key", Collections.emptyMap());
+            assertThat(ctx.getTargetingKey()).isEqualTo("key");
+            assertThat(ctx.keySet()).contains(TARGETING_KEY);
+        }
+
+        @Test
+        @DisplayName("non-null targeting key with null attributes is preserved")
+        void nonNullTargetingKeyWithNullAttributesIsPreserved() {
+            ImmutableContext ctx = new ImmutableContext("key", null);
+            assertThat(ctx.getTargetingKey()).isEqualTo("key");
+        }
+
+        @Test
+        @DisplayName("null targeting key with empty attributes yields empty context")
+        void nullTargetingKeyWithEmptyAttributesYieldsEmptyContext() {
+            ImmutableContext ctx = new ImmutableContext((String) null, Collections.emptyMap());
+            assertThat(ctx.getTargetingKey()).isNull();
+            assertThat(ctx.isEmpty()).isTrue();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Nested
+    @DisplayName("ImmutableContext.merge() empty short-circuit")
+    class MergeEmpty {
+
+        @Test
+        @DisplayName("merging two empty contexts returns the EMPTY singleton")
+        void mergingTwoEmptyContextsReturnsEmptySingleton() {
+            EvaluationContext result = new ImmutableContext().merge(new ImmutableContext());
+            assertThat(result).isSameAs(ImmutableContext.EMPTY);
+        }
+
+        @Test
+        @DisplayName("merging empty context with null returns the EMPTY singleton")
+        void mergingEmptyContextWithNullReturnsEmptySingleton() {
+            EvaluationContext result = new ImmutableContext().merge(null);
+            assertThat(result).isSameAs(ImmutableContext.EMPTY);
+        }
+
+        @Test
+        @DisplayName("merging non-empty context with null does not return EMPTY")
+        void mergingNonEmptyContextWithNullDoesNotReturnEmpty() {
+            EvaluationContext result = new ImmutableContext("key").merge(null);
+            assertThat(result).isNotSameAs(ImmutableContext.EMPTY);
+            assertThat(result.getTargetingKey()).isEqualTo("key");
+        }
+
+        @Test
+        @DisplayName("merging non-empty context with empty override does not return EMPTY")
+        void mergingNonEmptyContextWithEmptyOverrideDoesNotReturnEmpty() {
+            EvaluationContext result = new ImmutableContext("key").merge(new ImmutableContext());
+            assertThat(result).isNotSameAs(ImmutableContext.EMPTY);
+            assertThat(result.getTargetingKey()).isEqualTo("key");
+        }
+    }
+
     @Nested
     class Equals {
         ImmutableContext ctx = new ImmutableContext("c", Map.of("a", new Value("b")));