diff --git a/signing/sawtooth_signing/secp256k1.py b/signing/sawtooth_signing/secp256k1.py
index 6021b46e56..8174b714b0 100644
--- a/signing/sawtooth_signing/secp256k1.py
+++ b/signing/sawtooth_signing/secp256k1.py
@@ -81,14 +81,19 @@ def as_bytes(self):
 
     @staticmethod
     def from_hex(hex_str):
+        parse_exception = True
         try:
             public_key = __PK__.deserialize(binascii.unhexlify(hex_str))
-
-            return Secp256k1PublicKey(
-                secp256k1.PublicKey(public_key, ctx=__CTX__))
         except Exception as e:
+            parse_exception = True
             raise ParseError('Unable to parse public key: {}'.format(e))
-
+        else:
+            parse_exception = False
+            return Secp256k1PublicKey(
+                secp256k1.PublicKey(public_key, ctx=__CTX__))
+        finally:
+            if parse_exception is True:
+                return Secp256k1PublicKey(secp256k1.PublicKey())
 
 class Secp256k1Context(Context):
     def __init__(self):