diff --git a/VoxelEngine.Tests/Streaming/ChunkStreamerTests.cs b/VoxelEngine.Tests/Streaming/ChunkStreamerTests.cs
index 00211b7..a394ae5 100644
--- a/VoxelEngine.Tests/Streaming/ChunkStreamerTests.cs
+++ b/VoxelEngine.Tests/Streaming/ChunkStreamerTests.cs
@@ -35,6 +35,13 @@ internal sealed class FakeMesher : IChunkMesher
         => new float[6]; // one vertex worth
 }
 
+// Mesher that returns an empty mesh, simulating a pure-air chunk.
+internal sealed class EmptyMesher : IChunkMesher
+{
+    public float[] Build(VoxelChunk chunk, BlockRegistry registry, Func<int, int, int, bool>? neighborOpaqueOutside = null)
+        => Array.Empty<float>();
+}
+
 public class ChunkStreamerTests
 {
     private static (ChunkStreamer streamer, World.World world, List<FakeRenderer> created) CreateStreamer(Configuration cfg)
@@ -352,6 +359,38 @@ public class ChunkStreamerTests
         Assert.Equal(1, generateCalls);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void InstallResult_EmptyMesh_SkipsRendererCreationButMarksReady()
+    {
+        var cfg = new Configuration
+        {
+            RenderDistanceHorizontal = 0,
+            RenderDistanceVertical = 0,
+            MaxGenerateJobsInFlight = 100,
+            MaxMeshUploadsPerFrame = 100,
+        };
+        var registry = new BlockRegistry();
+        var store = new InMemoryChunkModificationStore();
+        var world = new World.World(registry, store);
+        var mesher = new EmptyMesher();
+        var executor = new SynchronousJobExecutor();
+        int rendererFactoryCalls = 0;
+        Func<float[], IChunkRenderer> factory = m =>
+        {
+            rendererFactoryCalls++;
+            return new FakeRenderer(m);
+        };
+        Func<Vector3i, VoxelChunk> generate = _ => new VoxelChunk();
+
+        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, generate, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
+        var pos = new Vector3i(0, 0, 0);
+        streamer.Tick(pos);
+
+        Assert.True(streamer.IsReady(pos));
+        Assert.Equal(0, rendererFactoryCalls);
+        Assert.Equal(0, streamer.RendererCount);
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public void Tick_VerticalPriorityWeight_PrefersHorizontalAtSameDistance()
     {
diff --git a/World/Streaming/ChunkStreamer.cs b/World/Streaming/ChunkStreamer.cs
index c031d6d..81bfea9 100644
--- a/World/Streaming/ChunkStreamer.cs
+++ b/World/Streaming/ChunkStreamer.cs
@@ -210,8 +210,15 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
         if (this._renderers.TryGetValue(result.Pos, out IChunkRenderer? old))
         {
             old.Dispose();
+            this._renderers.Remove(result.Pos);
+        }
+        // Skip renderer allocation for empty meshes (pure-air chunks above
+        // terrain, or chunks whose every face culls). The chunk still counts
+        // as ready — DrawAll's iteration over _renderers naturally no-ops.
+        if (result.Mesh.Length > 0)
+        {
+            this._renderers[result.Pos] = this._rendererFactory(result.Mesh);
         }
-        this._renderers[result.Pos] = this._rendererFactory(result.Mesh);
         this._ready.Add(result.Pos);
         this._dirty.Remove(result.Pos);