diff --git a/plugins/trace_api_plugin/abi_data_handler.cpp b/plugins/trace_api_plugin/abi_data_handler.cpp
index 06462d7e5a4..28e6c1228fb 100644
--- a/plugins/trace_api_plugin/abi_data_handler.cpp
+++ b/plugins/trace_api_plugin/abi_data_handler.cpp
@@ -27,12 +27,16 @@ namespace eosio::trace_api {
                };
                return std::visit([&](auto &&action) -> std::tuple<fc::variant, std::optional<fc::variant>> {
                   using T = std::decay_t<decltype(action)>;
-                  if constexpr (std::is_same_v<T, action_trace_v0>) {
-                     return {serializer_p->binary_to_variant(type_name, action.data, abi_yield), {}};
-                  } else {
-                     return {serializer_p->binary_to_variant(type_name, action.data, abi_yield),
-                             {serializer_p->binary_to_variant(type_name, action.return_value, abi_yield)}};
+                  std::optional<fc::variant> ret_data;
+                  auto params = serializer_p->binary_to_variant(type_name, action.data, abi_yield);
+                  if constexpr (std::is_same_v<T, action_trace_v1>) {
+                     // if there is no return data, an exception will be thrown, so catch it here
+                     try {
+                        ret_data = serializer_p->binary_to_variant(type_name, action.return_value, abi_yield);
+                     }
+                     catch(...) {  }
                   }
+                  return {params, ret_data};
                }, action);
             } catch (...) {
                except_handler(MAKE_EXCEPTION_WITH_CONTEXT(std::current_exception()));
diff --git a/tests/trace_plugin_test.py b/tests/trace_plugin_test.py
index 9b0e7fd2318..119717fa51c 100755
--- a/tests/trace_plugin_test.py
+++ b/tests/trace_plugin_test.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import json
 import time
 import unittest
+import os
 
 from testUtils import Utils
 from Cluster import Cluster
@@ -29,7 +30,8 @@ def cleanEnv(self, shouldCleanup: bool) :
     # start keosd and nodeos
     def startEnv(self) :
         account_names = ["alice", "bob", "charlie"]
-        traceNodeosArgs = " --plugin eosio::trace_api_plugin --trace-no-abis --trace-dir=."
+        abs_path = os.path.abspath(os.getcwd() + '/../unittests/contracts/eosio.token/eosio.token.abi')
+        traceNodeosArgs = " --plugin eosio::trace_api_plugin --trace-rpc-abi eosio.token=" + abs_path + " --trace-dir=."
         self.cluster.launch(totalNodes=1, extraNodeosArgs=traceNodeosArgs)
         self.walletMgr.launch()
         testWalletName="testwallet"
@@ -90,6 +92,15 @@ def test_TraceApi(self) :
             self.assertIn("id", trx)
             if (trx["id"] == transId) :
                 isTrxInBlockFromTraceApi = True
+                self.assertIn('actions', trx)
+                actions = trx['actions']
+                for act in actions:
+                    self.assertIn('params', act)
+                    prms = act['params']
+                    self.assertIn('from', prms)
+                    self.assertIn('to', prms)
+                    self.assertIn('quantity', prms)
+                    self.assertIn('memo', prms)
                 break
         self.assertTrue(isTrxInBlockFromTraceApi)