diff --git a/Lib/email/base64mime.py b/Lib/email/base64mime.py
index 17f0818..a7cc373 100644
--- a/Lib/email/base64mime.py
+++ b/Lib/email/base64mime.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def body_encode(s, maxlinelen=76, eol=NL):
     in an email.
     """
     if not s:
-        return s
+        return ""
 
     encvec = []
     max_unencoded = maxlinelen * 3 // 4
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_email/test_email.py b/Lib/test/test_email/test_email.py
index 044b938..720a63b 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_email/test_email.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_email/test_email.py
@@ -4261,7 +4261,7 @@ def test_decode(self):
 
     def test_encode(self):
         eq = self.assertEqual
-        eq(base64mime.body_encode(b''), b'')
+        eq(base64mime.body_encode(b''), '')
         eq(base64mime.body_encode(b'hello'), 'aGVsbG8=\n')
         # Test the binary flag
         eq(base64mime.body_encode(b'hello\n'), 'aGVsbG8K\n')
@@ -4292,7 +4292,6 @@ def test_header_encode(self):
         eq(he('hello\nworld'), '=?iso-8859-1?b?aGVsbG8Kd29ybGQ=?=')
 
 
-
 class TestQuopri(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         # Set of characters (as byte integers) that don't need to be encoded
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2021-02-07-19-13-30.bpo-43125.AqNoMa.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2021-02-07-19-13-30.bpo-43125.AqNoMa.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c4a583
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2021-02-07-19-13-30.bpo-43125.AqNoMa.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Return empty string if base64mime.body_encode receive empty bytes