diff --git a/internal/jsonrpc2/messages.go b/internal/jsonrpc2/messages.go
index 77c95313..8b967706 100644
--- a/internal/jsonrpc2/messages.go
+++ b/internal/jsonrpc2/messages.go
@@ -171,8 +171,20 @@ func EncodeIndent(msg Message, prefix, indent string) ([]byte, error) {
 	return bytes.TrimRight(buf.Bytes(), "\n"), nil
 }
 
+// wireDecode is the decode form of [wireCombined]. Method is a [json.RawMessage]
+// so we can tell whether the "method" key was present on the wire, including
+// when its value is the empty string (see go-sdk#976).
+type wireDecode struct {
+	VersionTag string          `json:"jsonrpc"`
+	ID         any             `json:"id,omitempty"`
+	Method     json.RawMessage `json:"method"`
+	Params     json.RawMessage `json:"params,omitempty"`
+	Result     json.RawMessage `json:"result,omitempty"`
+	Error      *WireError      `json:"error,omitempty"`
+}
+
 func DecodeMessage(data []byte) (Message, error) {
-	msg := wireCombined{}
+	msg := wireDecode{}
 	if err := internaljson.Unmarshal(data, &msg); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unmarshaling jsonrpc message: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -183,15 +195,19 @@ func DecodeMessage(data []byte) (Message, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if msg.Method != "" {
-		// has a method, must be a call
+	if len(msg.Method) > 0 {
+		// The "method" key was present. Decode its value (including "").
+		var method string
+		if err := internaljson.Unmarshal(msg.Method, &method); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unmarshaling jsonrpc message: %w", err)
+		}
 		return &Request{
-			Method: msg.Method,
+			Method: method,
 			ID:     id,
 			Params: msg.Params,
 		}, nil
 	}
-	// no method, should be a response
+	// no method key, should be a response
 	if !id.IsValid() {
 		return nil, ErrInvalidRequest
 	}
diff --git a/internal/jsonrpc2/wire_test.go b/internal/jsonrpc2/wire_test.go
index 6f576f08..cf7e2b86 100644
--- a/internal/jsonrpc2/wire_test.go
+++ b/internal/jsonrpc2/wire_test.go
@@ -102,6 +102,51 @@ func newResponse(id any, result any, rerr error) jsonrpc2.Message {
 	return msg
 }
 
+// go-sdk#976: empty method must decode as a request (encode omits empty method).
+func TestDecodeEmptyMethodRequest(t *testing.T) {
+	encoded := []byte(`{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":5,"method":"","params":{}}`)
+	msg, err := jsonrpc2.DecodeMessage(encoded)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	req, ok := msg.(*jsonrpc2.Request)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("message type = %T, want *jsonrpc2.Request", msg)
+	}
+	if req.Method != "" {
+		t.Errorf("Method = %q, want empty string", req.Method)
+	}
+	if req.ID != jsonrpc2.Int64ID(5) {
+		t.Errorf("ID = %v, want 5", req.ID.Raw())
+	}
+	if !req.IsCall() {
+		t.Error("empty method with id=5 should be a call")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDecodeResponseUnchanged(t *testing.T) {
+	encoded := []byte(`{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"result":{}}`)
+	msg, err := jsonrpc2.DecodeMessage(encoded)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, ok := msg.(*jsonrpc2.Response); !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("message type = %T, want *jsonrpc2.Response", msg)
+	}
+}
+
+// Messages with an id but no "method" key are responses, not malformed requests.
+func TestDecodeIDOnlyMessageIsResponse(t *testing.T) {
+	encoded := []byte(`{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":5}`)
+	msg, err := jsonrpc2.DecodeMessage(encoded)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, ok := msg.(*jsonrpc2.Response); !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("message type = %T, want *jsonrpc2.Response", msg)
+	}
+}
+
 func checkJSON(t *testing.T, got, want []byte) {
 	// compare the compact form, to allow for formatting differences
 	g := &bytes.Buffer{}
diff --git a/mcp/transport_test.go b/mcp/transport_test.go
index 515b8c19..730400e2 100644
--- a/mcp/transport_test.go
+++ b/mcp/transport_test.go
@@ -124,3 +124,26 @@ func TestIOConnRead(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+// go-sdk#976: stdio must surface empty-method calls as requests, not responses.
+func TestIOConnRead_EmptyMethod(t *testing.T) {
+	tr := newIOConn(rwc{
+		rc: io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader(`{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":5,"method":"","params":{}}`)),
+	})
+	t.Cleanup(func() { tr.Close() })
+
+	msg, err := tr.Read(context.Background())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ioConn.Read() error = %v", err)
+	}
+	req, ok := msg.(*jsonrpc.Request)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("message type = %T, want *jsonrpc.Request", msg)
+	}
+	if req.Method != "" {
+		t.Errorf("Method = %q, want empty string", req.Method)
+	}
+	if req.ID != jsonrpc2.Int64ID(5) {
+		t.Errorf("ID = %v, want 5", req.ID.Raw())
+	}
+}