diff --git a/e2e-polybft/e2e/jsonrpc_test.go b/e2e-polybft/e2e/jsonrpc_test.go
index 4ece515fce..6735904dec 100644
--- a/e2e-polybft/e2e/jsonrpc_test.go
+++ b/e2e-polybft/e2e/jsonrpc_test.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/0xPolygon/polygon-edge/consensus/polybft/contractsapi"
 	"github.com/0xPolygon/polygon-edge/e2e-polybft/framework"
 	"github.com/0xPolygon/polygon-edge/helper/hex"
+	"github.com/0xPolygon/polygon-edge/state"
 	"github.com/0xPolygon/polygon-edge/types"
 )
 
@@ -126,6 +127,40 @@ func TestE2E_JsonRPC(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Equal(t, uint64(0x56a3), resp)
 	})
 
+	t.Run("eth_estimateGas by zero-balance account - simple value transfer", func(t *testing.T) {
+		acctZeroBalance, err := wallet.GenerateKey()
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		fundedAccountAddress := acct.Address()
+		nonFundedAccountAddress := acctZeroBalance.Address()
+
+		estimateGasFn := func(value *big.Int) {
+			resp, err := client.EstimateGas(&ethgo.CallMsg{
+				From:  nonFundedAccountAddress,
+				To:    &fundedAccountAddress,
+				Value: value,
+			})
+
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.Equal(t, state.TxGas, resp)
+		}
+
+		estimateGasFn(ethgo.Gwei(1))
+
+		// transfer some funds to zero balance account
+		valueTransferTxn := cluster.SendTxn(t, acct, &ethgo.Transaction{
+			From:  fundedAccountAddress,
+			To:    &nonFundedAccountAddress,
+			Value: ethgo.Gwei(10),
+		})
+
+		require.NoError(t, valueTransferTxn.Wait())
+		require.True(t, valueTransferTxn.Succeed())
+
+		// now call estimate gas again for the now funded account
+		estimateGasFn(ethgo.Gwei(1))
+	})
+
 	t.Run("eth_getBalance", func(t *testing.T) {
 		key1, err := wallet.GenerateKey()
 		require.NoError(t, err)
diff --git a/jsonrpc/eth_endpoint.go b/jsonrpc/eth_endpoint.go
index c035683722..455d5d94ba 100644
--- a/jsonrpc/eth_endpoint.go
+++ b/jsonrpc/eth_endpoint.go
@@ -553,7 +553,7 @@ func (e *Eth) EstimateGas(arg *txnArgs, rawNum *BlockNumber) (interface{}, error
 
 	forksInTime := e.store.GetForksInTime(header.Number)
 
-	if transaction.IsValueTransfer() || transaction.IsContractCreation() {
+	if transaction.IsValueTransfer() {
 		// if it is a simple value transfer or a contract creation,
 		// we already know what is the transaction gas cost, no need to apply transaction
 		gasCost, err := state.TransactionGasCost(transaction, forksInTime.Homestead, forksInTime.Istanbul)
@@ -569,13 +569,20 @@ func (e *Eth) EstimateGas(arg *txnArgs, rawNum *BlockNumber) (interface{}, error
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	var standardGas uint64
+	if transaction.IsContractCreation() && forksInTime.Homestead {
+		standardGas = state.TxGasContractCreation
+	} else {
+		standardGas = state.TxGas
+	}
+
 	var (
-		lowEnd  = state.TxGas
+		lowEnd  = standardGas
 		highEnd uint64
 	)
 
 	// If the gas limit was passed in, use it as a ceiling
-	if transaction.Gas != 0 && transaction.Gas >= lowEnd {
+	if transaction.Gas != 0 && transaction.Gas >= standardGas {
 		highEnd = transaction.Gas
 	} else {
 		// If not, use the referenced block number
diff --git a/types/transaction.go b/types/transaction.go
index 53f8380ac8..87dbea350a 100644
--- a/types/transaction.go
+++ b/types/transaction.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func (t *Transaction) IsContractCreation() bool {
 // IsValueTransfer checks if tx is a value transfer
 func (t *Transaction) IsValueTransfer() bool {
 	return t.Value != nil &&
-		t.Value.Sign() != 0 &&
+		t.Value.Sign() > 0 &&
 		len(t.Input) == 0 &&
 		!t.IsContractCreation()
 }