diff --git a/proxy/grpc/client.go b/proxy/grpc/client.go
index 7b14f73..6f29f4b 100644
--- a/proxy/grpc/client.go
+++ b/proxy/grpc/client.go
@@ -61,8 +61,7 @@ func (c *Client) InitChain(ctx context.Context, genesisTime time.Time, initialHe
 		return types.Hash{}, 0, err
 	}
 
-	var stateRoot types.Hash
-	copy(stateRoot[:], resp.StateRoot)
+	stateRoot := copyHash(resp.StateRoot)
 
 	return stateRoot, resp.MaxBytes, nil
 }
@@ -99,8 +98,7 @@ func (c *Client) ExecuteTxs(ctx context.Context, txs []types.Tx, blockHeight uin
 		return types.Hash{}, 0, err
 	}
 
-	var updatedStateRoot types.Hash
-	copy(updatedStateRoot[:], resp.UpdatedStateRoot)
+	updatedStateRoot := copyHash(resp.UpdatedStateRoot)
 
 	return updatedStateRoot, resp.MaxBytes, nil
 }
diff --git a/proxy/grpc/client_server_test.go b/proxy/grpc/client_server_test.go
index af9bc34..3b8a3dc 100644
--- a/proxy/grpc/client_server_test.go
+++ b/proxy/grpc/client_server_test.go
@@ -56,10 +56,8 @@ func TestClientServer(t *testing.T) {
 		chainID := "test-chain"
 
 		// initialize a new Hash with a fixed size
-		expectedStateRoot := make([]byte, 32)
+		expectedStateRoot := types.Hash(make([]byte, 32))
 		copy(expectedStateRoot, []byte{1, 2, 3})
-		var stateRootHash types.Hash
-		copy(stateRootHash[:], expectedStateRoot)
 
 		expectedMaxBytes := uint64(1000000)
 
@@ -68,12 +66,12 @@ func TestClientServer(t *testing.T) {
 		expectedTime := time.Unix(unixTime, 0).UTC()
 
 		mockExec.On("InitChain", mock.Anything, expectedTime, initialHeight, chainID).
-			Return(stateRootHash, expectedMaxBytes, nil).Once()
+			Return(expectedStateRoot, expectedMaxBytes, nil).Once()
 
 		stateRoot, maxBytes, err := client.InitChain(context.TODO(), genesisTime, initialHeight, chainID)
 
 		require.NoError(t, err)
-		assert.Equal(t, stateRootHash, stateRoot)
+		assert.Equal(t, expectedStateRoot, stateRoot)
 		assert.Equal(t, expectedMaxBytes, maxBytes)
 		mockExec.AssertExpectations(t)
 	})
diff --git a/proxy/grpc/server.go b/proxy/grpc/server.go
index 629360e..f924d19 100644
--- a/proxy/grpc/server.go
+++ b/proxy/grpc/server.go
@@ -83,8 +83,7 @@ func (s *Server) ExecuteTxs(ctx context.Context, req *pb.ExecuteTxsRequest) (*pb
 		txs[i] = tx
 	}
 
-	var prevStateRoot types.Hash
-	copy(prevStateRoot[:], req.PrevStateRoot)
+	prevStateRoot := copyHash(req.PrevStateRoot)
 
 	updatedStateRoot, maxBytes, err := s.exec.ExecuteTxs(
 		ctx,
diff --git a/proxy/grpc/util.go b/proxy/grpc/util.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e3cf67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/proxy/grpc/util.go
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+package grpc
+
+import "github.com/rollkit/go-execution/types"
+
+func copyHash(src []byte) types.Hash {
+	dst := make([]byte, len(src))
+	copy(dst, src)
+	return dst
+}
diff --git a/test/suite.go b/test/suite.go
index 81d1014..52342e4 100644
--- a/test/suite.go
+++ b/test/suite.go
@@ -62,9 +62,9 @@ func (s *ExecutorSuite) TestExecuteTxs() {
 
 	stateRoot, maxBytes, err := s.Exec.ExecuteTxs(context.TODO(), txs, initialHeight+1, genesisTime.Add(time.Second), genesisStateRoot)
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
-	s.NotEqual(types.Hash{}, stateRoot)
-	s.NotEqual(genesisStateRoot, stateRoot)
-	s.Greater(maxBytes, uint64(0))
+	s.Require().NotEmpty(stateRoot)
+	s.Require().NotEqualValues(genesisStateRoot, stateRoot)
+	s.Require().Greater(maxBytes, uint64(0))
 }
 
 // TestSetFinal tests SetFinal method.
@@ -73,8 +73,8 @@ func (s *ExecutorSuite) TestSetFinal() {
 	err := s.Exec.SetFinal(context.TODO(), 1)
 	s.Require().Error(err)
 
-	_, _, _, _ = s.initChain(context.TODO())
-	_, _, err = s.Exec.ExecuteTxs(context.TODO(), nil, 2, time.Now(), types.Hash("test state"))
+	_, height, stateRoot, _ := s.initChain(context.TODO())
+	_, _, err = s.Exec.ExecuteTxs(context.TODO(), nil, height+1, time.Now(), stateRoot)
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
 	err = s.Exec.SetFinal(context.TODO(), 2)
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
@@ -107,5 +107,6 @@ func (s *ExecutorSuite) initChain(ctx context.Context) (time.Time, uint64, types
 
 	stateRoot, maxBytes, err := s.Exec.InitChain(ctx, genesisTime, initialHeight, chainID)
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
+	s.Require().NotEmpty(stateRoot)
 	return genesisTime, initialHeight, stateRoot, maxBytes
 }