diff --git a/source/extensions/filters/network/dubbo_proxy/dubbo_protocol_impl.cc b/source/extensions/filters/network/dubbo_proxy/dubbo_protocol_impl.cc
index 01d86199fc64c..52cea791c9150 100644
--- a/source/extensions/filters/network/dubbo_proxy/dubbo_protocol_impl.cc
+++ b/source/extensions/filters/network/dubbo_proxy/dubbo_protocol_impl.cc
@@ -183,7 +183,11 @@ bool DubboProtocolImpl::encode(Buffer::Instance& buffer, const MessageMetadata&
     buffer.writeByte(flag);
     buffer.writeByte(static_cast<uint8_t>(metadata.responseStatus()));
     buffer.writeBEInt<uint64_t>(metadata.requestId());
-    buffer.writeBEInt<uint32_t>(0);
+    // Body of heart beat response is null.
+    // TODO(wbpcode): Currently we only support the Hessian2 serialization scheme, so here we
+    // directly use the 'N' for null object in Hessian2. This coupling should be unnecessary.
+    buffer.writeBEInt<uint32_t>(1u);
+    buffer.writeByte('N');
     return true;
   }
   case MessageType::Response: {
diff --git a/test/extensions/filters/network/dubbo_proxy/dubbo_protocol_impl_test.cc b/test/extensions/filters/network/dubbo_proxy/dubbo_protocol_impl_test.cc
index 9f57e392df534..19b49d1dbbb2e 100644
--- a/test/extensions/filters/network/dubbo_proxy/dubbo_protocol_impl_test.cc
+++ b/test/extensions/filters/network/dubbo_proxy/dubbo_protocol_impl_test.cc
@@ -151,6 +151,21 @@ TEST(DubboProtocolImplTest, encode) {
   EXPECT_TRUE(dubbo_protocol.decodeData(buffer, context, output_metadata));
 }
 
+TEST(DubboProtocolImplTest, HeartBeatResponseTest) {
+  MessageMetadata metadata;
+  metadata.setMessageType(MessageType::HeartbeatResponse);
+  metadata.setResponseStatus(ResponseStatus::Ok);
+  metadata.setSerializationType(SerializationType::Hessian2);
+  metadata.setRequestId(100);
+
+  Buffer::OwnedImpl buffer;
+  DubboProtocolImpl dubbo_protocol;
+  dubbo_protocol.initSerializer(SerializationType::Hessian2);
+  EXPECT_TRUE(dubbo_protocol.encode(buffer, metadata, "", RpcResponseType::ResponseWithValue));
+  // 16 bytes header and one byte null object body.
+  EXPECT_EQ(17, buffer.length());
+}
+
 TEST(DubboProtocolImplTest, decode) {
   Buffer::OwnedImpl buffer;
   MessageMetadataSharedPtr metadata;