diff --git a/crates/nu-engine/src/eval.rs b/crates/nu-engine/src/eval.rs
index cfa319d3e8..5168794e8a 100644
--- a/crates/nu-engine/src/eval.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-engine/src/eval.rs
@@ -61,13 +61,25 @@ pub fn eval_call(
 
             if let Some(arg) = call.positional_nth(param_idx) {
                 let result = eval_expression(engine_state, caller_stack, arg)?;
-                if required && !result.get_type().is_subtype(&param.shape.to_type()) {
-                    return Err(ShellError::CantConvert {
-                        to_type: param.shape.to_type().to_string(),
-                        from_type: result.get_type().to_string(),
-                        span: result.span(),
-                        help: None,
-                    });
+                let param_type = param.shape.to_type();
+                if required && !result.get_type().is_subtype(&param_type) {
+                    // need to check if result is an empty list, and param_type is table or list
+                    // nushell needs to pass type checking for the case.
+                    let empty_list_matches = result
+                        .as_list()
+                        .map(|l| {
+                            l.is_empty() && matches!(param_type, Type::List(_) | Type::Table(_))
+                        })
+                        .unwrap_or(false);
+
+                    if !empty_list_matches {
+                        return Err(ShellError::CantConvert {
+                            to_type: param.shape.to_type().to_string(),
+                            from_type: result.get_type().to_string(),
+                            span: result.span(),
+                            help: None,
+                        });
+                    }
                 }
                 callee_stack.add_var(var_id, result);
             } else if let Some(value) = &param.default_value {
diff --git a/src/tests/test_custom_commands.rs b/src/tests/test_custom_commands.rs
index fe6f8dfa76..f42db73f99 100644
--- a/src/tests/test_custom_commands.rs
+++ b/src/tests/test_custom_commands.rs
@@ -229,6 +229,18 @@ fn type_check_for_during_eval2() -> TestResult {
     )
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn empty_list_matches_list_type() -> TestResult {
+    let _ = run_test(
+        r#"def spam [foo: list<int>] { echo $foo }; spam [] | length"#,
+        "0",
+    );
+    run_test(
+        r#"def spam [foo: list<string>] { echo $foo }; spam [] | length"#,
+        "0",
+    )
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn path_argument_dont_auto_expand_if_single_quoted() -> TestResult {
     run_test("def spam [foo: path] { echo $foo }; spam '~/aa'", "~/aa")