diff --git a/packages/types/src/primitive/Method.ts b/packages/types/src/primitive/Method.ts
index 04e0a817e1..82c73ce094 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/primitive/Method.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/primitive/Method.ts
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ export default class Method extends Struct implements IMethod {
    * @param _meta - Metadata to use, so that `injectMethods` lookup is not
    * necessary.
    */
-  private static decodeMethod (value: DecodedMethod | Uint8Array | string, _meta?: FunctionMetadataV4): DecodedMethod {
+  private static decodeMethod (value: DecodedMethod | Uint8Array | string = new Uint8Array(), _meta?: FunctionMetadataV4): DecodedMethod {
     if (isHex(value)) {
       return Method.decodeMethod(hexToU8a(value), _meta);
     } else if (isU8a(value)) {
@@ -122,14 +122,7 @@ export default class Method extends Struct implements IMethod {
       };
     }
 
-    console.error(`Method: cannot decode value '${value}' of type ${typeof value}`);
-
-    return {
-      args: new Uint8Array(),
-      argsDef: {},
-      meta: new FunctionMetadataV4(),
-      callIndex: new Uint8Array([255, 255])
-    };
+    throw new Error(`Method: Cannot decode value '${value}' of type ${typeof value}`);
   }
 
   // If the extrinsic function has an argument of type `Origin`, we ignore it
diff --git a/packages/types/src/type/Extrinsic.ts b/packages/types/src/type/Extrinsic.ts
index fe0b960e67..e35d1a4f82 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/type/Extrinsic.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/type/Extrinsic.ts
@@ -38,10 +38,10 @@ export default class Extrinsic extends Struct implements IExtrinsic {
     super({
       signature: ExtrinsicSignature,
       method: Method
-    }, Extrinsic.decodeExtrinsic(value || {}));
+    }, Extrinsic.decodeExtrinsic(value));
   }
 
-  static decodeExtrinsic (value: ExtrinsicValue | AnyU8a | Method): ExtrinsicValue | Array<number> | Uint8Array {
+  static decodeExtrinsic (value: ExtrinsicValue | AnyU8a | Method = new Uint8Array()): ExtrinsicValue | Array<number> | Uint8Array {
     if (Array.isArray(value) || isHex(value)) {
       // Instead of the block below, it should simply be:
       // return Extrinsic.decodeExtrinsic(hexToU8a(value as string));