diff --git a/Objects/setobject.c b/Objects/setobject.c
--- a/Objects/setobject.c
+++ b/Objects/setobject.c
@@ -1476,6 +1476,10 @@
 static int
 set_difference_update_internal(PySetObject *so, PyObject *other)
 {
+    if (PySet_GET_SIZE(so) == 0) {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
     if ((PyObject *)so == other)
         return set_clear_internal(so);
 
@@ -1550,6 +1554,10 @@
     Py_ssize_t pos = 0;
     int rv;
 
+    if (PySet_GET_SIZE(so) == 0) {
+        return set_copy(so);
+    }
+
     if (!PyAnySet_Check(other)  && !PyDict_CheckExact(other)) {
         return set_copy_and_difference(so, other);
     }