diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index d1428a77d..91e804e35 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ newtype_derive = "0.1"
 regex = "1.3"
 serde = {version = "^1", optional = true, features = ["derive"]}
 serde_bytes = {version = "0.11", optional = true}
-thiserror = "2"
+thiserror = {version = "^2" }
 url = "2.1"
 
 [features]
diff --git a/src/bcf/header.rs b/src/bcf/header.rs
index 808dbf087..be2d3c389 100644
--- a/src/bcf/header.rs
+++ b/src/bcf/header.rs
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 
 use std::ffi;
 use std::os::raw::c_char;
+use std::rc::Rc;
 use std::slice;
 use std::str;
 
@@ -506,6 +507,13 @@ impl HeaderView {
         }
         result
     }
+
+    /// Create an empty record using this header view.
+    ///
+    /// The record can be reused multiple times.
+    pub fn empty_record(&self) -> crate::bcf::Record {
+        crate::bcf::Record::new(Rc::new(self.clone()))
+    }
 }
 
 impl Clone for HeaderView {
@@ -540,3 +548,25 @@ pub enum TagLength {
     Genotypes,
     Variable,
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use crate::bcf::Reader;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_header_view_empty_record() {
+        // Open a VCF file to get a HeaderView
+        let vcf = Reader::from_path("test/test_string.vcf").expect("Error opening file");
+        let header_view = vcf.header.clone();
+
+        // Create an empty record from the HeaderView
+        let record = header_view.empty_record();
+        eprintln!("{:?}", record.rid());
+
+        // Verify the record is properly initialized with default/empty values
+        assert_eq!(record.rid(), Some(0)); // No chromosome/contig set
+        assert_eq!(record.pos(), 0); // No position set
+        assert_eq!(record.qual(), 0.0); // No quality score set
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/bcf/mod.rs b/src/bcf/mod.rs
index 149ddd9a2..1b4b83687 100644
--- a/src/bcf/mod.rs
+++ b/src/bcf/mod.rs
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ impl Read for Reader {
 
     /// Return empty record.  Can be reused multiple times.
     fn empty_record(&self) -> Record {
-        Record::new(Rc::clone(&self.header))
+        self.header.empty_record()
     }
 }