diff --git a/ethclient/ethclient.go b/ethclient/ethclient.go
index a61bf94a67c3..dea77676b639 100644
--- a/ethclient/ethclient.go
+++ b/ethclient/ethclient.go
@@ -346,7 +346,14 @@ func (ec *Client) SyncProgress(ctx context.Context) (*ethereum.SyncProgress, err
 // SubscribeNewHead subscribes to notifications about the current blockchain head
 // on the given channel.
 func (ec *Client) SubscribeNewHead(ctx context.Context, ch chan<- *types.Header) (ethereum.Subscription, error) {
-	return ec.c.EthSubscribe(ctx, ch, "newHeads")
+	sub, err := ec.c.EthSubscribe(ctx, ch, "newHeads")
+	if err != nil {
+		// Defensively prefer returning nil interface explicitly on error-path, instead
+		// of letting default golang behavior wrap it with non-nil interface that stores
+		// nil concrete type value.
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return sub, nil
 }
 
 // State Access