diff --git a/src/consumer/consumerGroup.js b/src/consumer/consumerGroup.js
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/src/consumer/consumerGroup.js
+++ b/src/consumer/consumerGroup.js
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ const STALE_METADATA_ERRORS = [
   'UNKNOWN_TOPIC_OR_PARTITION',
 ]
 
-const EMPTY_FETCH_RESULT = BufferedAsyncIterator([])
-
 module.exports = class ConsumerGroup {
   constructor({
     cluster,
@@ -352,7 +350,7 @@ module.exports = class ConsumerGroup {
         })
 
         await sleep(this.maxWaitTime)
-        return EMPTY_FETCH_RESULT
+        return BufferedAsyncIterator([])
       }
 
       await this.offsetManager.resolveOffsets()
@@ -462,7 +460,7 @@ module.exports = class ConsumerGroup {
       // configured max wait time
       if (requests.length === 0) {
         await sleep(this.maxWaitTime)
-        return EMPTY_FETCH_RESULT
+        return BufferedAsyncIterator([])
       }
 
       return BufferedAsyncIterator(requests, e => this.recoverFromFetch(e))
Return a new iterator even on empty states