diff --git a/doc/source/whatsnew/v2.0.0.rst b/doc/source/whatsnew/v2.0.0.rst
index 7838ef8df4164..1fc7a06f8b7f0 100644
--- a/doc/source/whatsnew/v2.0.0.rst
+++ b/doc/source/whatsnew/v2.0.0.rst
@@ -311,6 +311,35 @@ The new behavior, as for datetime64, either gives exactly the requested dtype or
    ser.astype("timedelta64[s]")
    ser.astype("timedelta64[D]")
 
+.. _whatsnew_200.api_breaking.zero_len_indexes:
+
+Empty DataFrames/Series will now default to have a ``RangeIndex``
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Before, constructing an empty (where ``data`` is ``None`` or an empty list-like argument) :class:`Series` or :class:`DataFrame` without
+specifying the axes (``index=None``, ``columns=None``) would return the axes as empty :class:`Index` with object dtype.
+
+Now, the axes return an empty :class:`RangeIndex`.
+
+*Previous behavior*:
+
+.. code-block:: ipython
+
+   In [8]: pd.Series().index
+   Out[8]:
+   Index([], dtype='object')
+
+   In [9] pd.DataFrame().axes
+   Out[9]:
+   [Index([], dtype='object'), Index([], dtype='object')]
+
+*New behavior*:
+
+.. ipython:: python
+
+   pd.Series().index
+   pd.DataFrame().axes
+
 .. _whatsnew_200.api_breaking.deps:
 
 Increased minimum versions for dependencies
@@ -370,6 +399,7 @@ Other API changes
 - Changed behavior of :class:`Index` constructor with an object-dtype ``numpy.ndarray`` containing all-``bool`` values or all-complex values, this will now retain object dtype, consistent with the :class:`Series` behavior (:issue:`49594`)
 - Changed behavior of :meth:`DataFrame.shift` with ``axis=1``, an integer ``fill_value``, and homogeneous datetime-like dtype, this now fills new columns with integer dtypes instead of casting to datetimelike (:issue:`49842`)
 - Files are now closed when encountering an exception in :func:`read_json` (:issue:`49921`)
+- Changed behavior of :func:`read_csv`, :func:`read_json` & :func:`read_fwf`, where the index will now always be a :class:`RangeIndex`, when no index is specified. Previously the index would be a :class:`Index` with dtype ``object`` if the new DataFrame/Series has length 0 (:issue:`49572`)
 - :meth:`DataFrame.values`, :meth:`DataFrame.to_numpy`, :meth:`DataFrame.xs`, :meth:`DataFrame.reindex`, :meth:`DataFrame.fillna`, and :meth:`DataFrame.replace` no longer silently consolidate the underlying arrays; do ``df = df.copy()`` to ensure consolidation (:issue:`49356`)
 -
 
diff --git a/pandas/core/frame.py b/pandas/core/frame.py
index 98af277cc0bd7..37c48bb7adbba 100644
--- a/pandas/core/frame.py
+++ b/pandas/core/frame.py
@@ -632,8 +632,6 @@ def __init__(
         copy: bool | None = None,
     ) -> None:
 
-        if data is None:
-            data = {}
         if dtype is not None:
             dtype = self._validate_dtype(dtype)
 
@@ -671,6 +669,12 @@ def __init__(
             else:
                 copy = False
 
+        if data is None:
+            index = index if index is not None else default_index(0)
+            columns = columns if columns is not None else default_index(0)
+            dtype = dtype if dtype is not None else pandas_dtype(object)
+            data = []
+
         if isinstance(data, (BlockManager, ArrayManager)):
             mgr = self._init_mgr(
                 data, axes={"index": index, "columns": columns}, dtype=dtype, copy=copy
@@ -777,7 +781,7 @@ def __init__(
                 mgr = dict_to_mgr(
                     {},
                     index,
-                    columns,
+                    columns if columns is not None else default_index(0),
                     dtype=dtype,
                     typ=manager,
                 )
@@ -2309,8 +2313,7 @@ def maybe_reorder(
 
             result_index = None
             if len(arrays) == 0 and index is None and length == 0:
-                # for backward compat use an object Index instead of RangeIndex
-                result_index = Index([])
+                result_index = default_index(0)
 
             arrays, arr_columns = reorder_arrays(arrays, arr_columns, columns, length)
             return arrays, arr_columns, result_index
diff --git a/pandas/core/internals/construction.py b/pandas/core/internals/construction.py
index 563011abe2c41..07fab0080a747 100644
--- a/pandas/core/internals/construction.py
+++ b/pandas/core/internals/construction.py
@@ -582,7 +582,7 @@ def _extract_index(data) -> Index:
     """
     index: Index
     if len(data) == 0:
-        return Index([])
+        return default_index(0)
 
     raw_lengths = []
     indexes: list[list[Hashable] | Index] = []
diff --git a/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py b/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py
index c422b5b14cacc..16f1a5d0b81e2 100644
--- a/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py
+++ b/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py
@@ -1084,8 +1084,8 @@ def _get_join_info(
             else:
                 join_index = default_index(len(left_indexer))
 
-        if len(join_index) == 0:
-            join_index = join_index.astype(object)
+        if len(join_index) == 0 and not isinstance(join_index, MultiIndex):
+            join_index = default_index(0).set_names(join_index.name)
         return join_index, left_indexer, right_indexer
 
     def _create_join_index(
diff --git a/pandas/core/series.py b/pandas/core/series.py
index 1e5f565934b50..3d2783b939743 100644
--- a/pandas/core/series.py
+++ b/pandas/core/series.py
@@ -385,11 +385,16 @@ def __init__(
         if index is not None:
             index = ensure_index(index)
 
-        if data is None:
-            data = {}
         if dtype is not None:
             dtype = self._validate_dtype(dtype)
 
+        if data is None:
+            index = index if index is not None else default_index(0)
+            if len(index) or dtype is not None:
+                data = na_value_for_dtype(pandas_dtype(dtype), compat=False)
+            else:
+                data = []
+
         if isinstance(data, MultiIndex):
             raise NotImplementedError(
                 "initializing a Series from a MultiIndex is not supported"
diff --git a/pandas/core/window/common.py b/pandas/core/window/common.py
index d6cb3d79c81e4..ddcd114aa352b 100644
--- a/pandas/core/window/common.py
+++ b/pandas/core/window/common.py
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ def dataframe_from_int_dict(data, frame_template):
             result = DataFrame(data, index=frame_template.index)
             if len(result.columns) > 0:
                 result.columns = frame_template.columns[result.columns]
+            else:
+                result.columns = frame_template.columns.copy()
             return result
 
         results = {}
diff --git a/pandas/io/parsers/base_parser.py b/pandas/io/parsers/base_parser.py
index c5fc054952b1f..ff94502d69ca3 100644
--- a/pandas/io/parsers/base_parser.py
+++ b/pandas/io/parsers/base_parser.py
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@
 from pandas.core.indexes.api import (
     Index,
     MultiIndex,
+    default_index,
     ensure_index_from_sequences,
 )
 from pandas.core.series import Series
@@ -1093,8 +1094,9 @@ def _get_empty_meta(
         #
         # Both must be non-null to ensure a successful construction. Otherwise,
         # we have to create a generic empty Index.
+        index: Index
         if (index_col is None or index_col is False) or index_names is None:
-            index = Index([])
+            index = default_index(0)
         else:
             data = [Series([], dtype=dtype_dict[name]) for name in index_names]
             index = ensure_index_from_sequences(data, names=index_names)
diff --git a/pandas/tests/apply/test_frame_apply.py b/pandas/tests/apply/test_frame_apply.py
index e7c2618d388c2..c28c3ae58219a 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/apply/test_frame_apply.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/apply/test_frame_apply.py
@@ -114,14 +114,14 @@ def test_apply_with_reduce_empty():
     result = empty_frame.apply(x.append, axis=1, result_type="expand")
     tm.assert_frame_equal(result, empty_frame)
     result = empty_frame.apply(x.append, axis=1, result_type="reduce")
-    expected = Series([], index=pd.Index([], dtype=object), dtype=np.float64)
+    expected = Series([], dtype=np.float64)
     tm.assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
     empty_with_cols = DataFrame(columns=["a", "b", "c"])
     result = empty_with_cols.apply(x.append, axis=1, result_type="expand")
     tm.assert_frame_equal(result, empty_with_cols)
     result = empty_with_cols.apply(x.append, axis=1, result_type="reduce")
-    expected = Series([], index=pd.Index([], dtype=object), dtype=np.float64)
+    expected = Series([], dtype=np.float64)
     tm.assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
     # Ensure that x.append hasn't been called
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ def test_nunique_empty():
     tm.assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
     result = df.T.nunique()
-    expected = Series([], index=pd.Index([]), dtype=np.float64)
+    expected = Series([], dtype=np.float64)
     tm.assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/apply/test_str.py b/pandas/tests/apply/test_str.py
index 61c879fb2b20f..add7b5c77ef65 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/apply/test_str.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/apply/test_str.py
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 
 from pandas import (
     DataFrame,
-    Index,
     Series,
 )
 import pandas._testing as tm
@@ -149,8 +148,8 @@ def test_agg_cython_table_series(series, func, expected):
         tm.get_cython_table_params(
             Series(dtype=np.float64),
             [
-                ("cumprod", Series([], Index([]), dtype=np.float64)),
-                ("cumsum", Series([], Index([]), dtype=np.float64)),
+                ("cumprod", Series([], dtype=np.float64)),
+                ("cumsum", Series([], dtype=np.float64)),
             ],
         ),
         tm.get_cython_table_params(
diff --git a/pandas/tests/extension/base/constructors.py b/pandas/tests/extension/base/constructors.py
index b9f8f8512a995..29766ff392296 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/extension/base/constructors.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/extension/base/constructors.py
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ def test_construct_empty_dataframe(self, dtype):
         # GH 33623
         result = pd.DataFrame(columns=["a"], dtype=dtype)
         expected = pd.DataFrame(
-            {"a": pd.array([], dtype=dtype)}, index=pd.Index([], dtype="object")
+            {"a": pd.array([], dtype=dtype)}, index=pd.RangeIndex(0)
         )
         self.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/extension/base/missing.py b/pandas/tests/extension/base/missing.py
index 3d43dc47b5280..cab81f864d8d8 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/extension/base/missing.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/extension/base/missing.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def test_dropna_frame(self, data_missing):
 
         # axis = 1
         result = df.dropna(axis="columns")
-        expected = pd.DataFrame(index=[0, 1])
+        expected = pd.DataFrame(index=pd.RangeIndex(2), columns=pd.Index([]))
         self.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
         # multiple
diff --git a/pandas/tests/frame/indexing/test_xs.py b/pandas/tests/frame/indexing/test_xs.py
index e4a92ecc5dac1..971ce2e467aa9 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/frame/indexing/test_xs.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/frame/indexing/test_xs.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def test_xs_corner(self):
         # no columns but Index(dtype=object)
         df = DataFrame(index=["a", "b", "c"])
         result = df.xs("a")
-        expected = Series([], name="a", index=Index([]), dtype=np.float64)
+        expected = Series([], name="a", dtype=np.float64)
         tm.assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
     def test_xs_duplicates(self):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_count.py b/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_count.py
index 43eb96f7f32d9..1553a8a86305d 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_count.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_count.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def test_count(self):
 
         df = DataFrame()
         result = df.count()
-        expected = Series(0, index=[])
+        expected = Series(dtype="int64")
         tm.assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
     def test_count_objects(self, float_string_frame):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_get_numeric_data.py b/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_get_numeric_data.py
index 8628b76f54b1d..456dfe1075981 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_get_numeric_data.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_get_numeric_data.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ def test_get_numeric_data_preserve_dtype(self):
         # get the numeric data
         obj = DataFrame({"A": [1, "2", 3.0]})
         result = obj._get_numeric_data()
-        expected = DataFrame(index=[0, 1, 2], dtype=object)
+        expected = DataFrame(dtype=object, index=pd.RangeIndex(3), columns=[])
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
     def test_get_numeric_data(self):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_quantile.py b/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_quantile.py
index 6826b15596850..93e1bcc113765 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_quantile.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_quantile.py
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ def test_quantile_datetime(self):
         tm.assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
         result = df[["a", "c"]].quantile([0.5], numeric_only=True)
-        expected = DataFrame(index=[0.5])
+        expected = DataFrame(index=[0.5], columns=[])
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ def test_quantile_dt64_empty(self, dtype, interp_method):
             interpolation=interpolation,
             method=method,
         )
-        expected = DataFrame(index=[0.5])
+        expected = DataFrame(index=[0.5], columns=[])
         tm.assert_frame_equal(res, expected)
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("invalid", [-1, 2, [0.5, -1], [0.5, 2]])
diff --git a/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_rank.py b/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_rank.py
index 5f648c76d0aa4..271a32017dd97 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_rank.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_rank.py
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ def test_rank_object_first(self, frame_or_series, na_option, ascending, expected
         "data,expected",
         [
             ({"a": [1, 2, "a"], "b": [4, 5, 6]}, DataFrame({"b": [1.0, 2.0, 3.0]})),
-            ({"a": [1, 2, "a"]}, DataFrame(index=range(3))),
+            ({"a": [1, 2, "a"]}, DataFrame(index=range(3), columns=[])),
         ],
     )
     def test_rank_mixed_axis_zero(self, data, expected):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_to_csv.py b/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_to_csv.py
index 7487b2c70a264..638387452903b 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_to_csv.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_to_csv.py
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ def test_to_csv_dup_cols(self, nrows):
     def test_to_csv_empty(self):
         df = DataFrame(index=np.arange(10))
         result, expected = self._return_result_expected(df, 1000)
-        tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected, check_names=False)
+        tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected, check_column_type=False)
 
     @pytest.mark.slow
     def test_to_csv_chunksize(self):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/frame/test_constructors.py b/pandas/tests/frame/test_constructors.py
index cacfd6f7a77b1..8051fff7b329d 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/frame/test_constructors.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/frame/test_constructors.py
@@ -193,13 +193,11 @@ def test_series_with_name_not_matching_column(self):
         [
             lambda: DataFrame(),
             lambda: DataFrame(None),
-            lambda: DataFrame({}),
             lambda: DataFrame(()),
             lambda: DataFrame([]),
             lambda: DataFrame(_ for _ in []),
             lambda: DataFrame(range(0)),
             lambda: DataFrame(data=None),
-            lambda: DataFrame(data={}),
             lambda: DataFrame(data=()),
             lambda: DataFrame(data=[]),
             lambda: DataFrame(data=(_ for _ in [])),
@@ -213,6 +211,20 @@ def test_empty_constructor(self, constructor):
         assert len(result.columns) == 0
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "constructor",
+        [
+            lambda: DataFrame({}),
+            lambda: DataFrame(data={}),
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_empty_constructor_object_index(self, constructor):
+        expected = DataFrame(columns=Index([]))
+        result = constructor()
+        assert len(result.index) == 0
+        assert len(result.columns) == 0
+        tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected, check_index_type=True)
+
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         "emptylike,expected_index,expected_columns",
         [
@@ -1391,7 +1403,7 @@ def test_constructor_generator(self):
     def test_constructor_list_of_dicts(self):
 
         result = DataFrame([{}])
-        expected = DataFrame(index=[0])
+        expected = DataFrame(index=RangeIndex(1), columns=[])
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
     def test_constructor_ordered_dict_nested_preserve_order(self):
@@ -1762,7 +1774,7 @@ def test_constructor_empty_with_string_dtype(self):
 
     def test_constructor_empty_with_string_extension(self, nullable_string_dtype):
         # GH 34915
-        expected = DataFrame(index=[], columns=["c1"], dtype=nullable_string_dtype)
+        expected = DataFrame(columns=["c1"], dtype=nullable_string_dtype)
         df = DataFrame(columns=["c1"], dtype=nullable_string_dtype)
         tm.assert_frame_equal(df, expected)
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/frame/test_reductions.py b/pandas/tests/frame/test_reductions.py
index 6c6a923e363ae..f9f3868375ed5 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/frame/test_reductions.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/frame/test_reductions.py
@@ -1163,7 +1163,7 @@ def test_any_all_bool_only(self):
         )
 
         result = df.all(bool_only=True)
-        expected = Series(dtype=np.bool_)
+        expected = Series(dtype=np.bool_, index=[])
         tm.assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
         df = DataFrame(
diff --git a/pandas/tests/frame/test_stack_unstack.py b/pandas/tests/frame/test_stack_unstack.py
index cb796e1b1ec64..f67e2125bbf54 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/frame/test_stack_unstack.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/frame/test_stack_unstack.py
@@ -1251,7 +1251,8 @@ def test_stack_timezone_aware_values():
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("dropna", [True, False])
 def test_stack_empty_frame(dropna):
     # GH 36113
-    expected = Series(index=MultiIndex([[], []], [[], []]), dtype=np.float64)
+    levels = [np.array([], dtype=np.int64), np.array([], dtype=np.int64)]
+    expected = Series(dtype=np.float64, index=MultiIndex(levels=levels, codes=[[], []]))
     result = DataFrame(dtype=np.float64).stack(dropna=dropna)
     tm.assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/groupby/aggregate/test_aggregate.py b/pandas/tests/groupby/aggregate/test_aggregate.py
index 03b917edd357b..659703c4d6d8f 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/groupby/aggregate/test_aggregate.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/groupby/aggregate/test_aggregate.py
@@ -674,7 +674,7 @@ def test_no_args_raises(self):
 
         # but we do allow this
         result = gr.agg([])
-        expected = DataFrame()
+        expected = DataFrame(columns=[])
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
     def test_series_named_agg_duplicates_no_raises(self):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/groupby/aggregate/test_cython.py b/pandas/tests/groupby/aggregate/test_cython.py
index dc09a2e0ea6ad..08c25fb74be83 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/groupby/aggregate/test_cython.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/groupby/aggregate/test_cython.py
@@ -103,7 +103,9 @@ def test_cython_agg_nothing_to_agg():
     with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="Could not convert"):
         frame[["b"]].groupby(frame["a"]).mean()
     result = frame[["b"]].groupby(frame["a"]).mean(numeric_only=True)
-    expected = DataFrame([], index=frame["a"].sort_values().drop_duplicates())
+    expected = DataFrame(
+        [], index=frame["a"].sort_values().drop_duplicates(), columns=[]
+    )
     tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/groupby/test_grouping.py b/pandas/tests/groupby/test_grouping.py
index 6b4693b59408d..26cdfa2291021 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/groupby/test_grouping.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/groupby/test_grouping.py
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ def test_list_grouper_with_nat(self):
         [
             (
                 "transform",
-                Series(name=2, dtype=np.float64, index=Index([])),
+                Series(name=2, dtype=np.float64),
             ),
             (
                 "agg",
@@ -875,7 +875,7 @@ def test_groupby_with_single_column(self):
         df = DataFrame({"a": list("abssbab")})
         tm.assert_frame_equal(df.groupby("a").get_group("a"), df.iloc[[0, 5]])
         # GH 13530
-        exp = DataFrame(index=Index(["a", "b", "s"], name="a"))
+        exp = DataFrame(index=Index(["a", "b", "s"], name="a"), columns=[])
         tm.assert_frame_equal(df.groupby("a").count(), exp)
         tm.assert_frame_equal(df.groupby("a").sum(), exp)
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/indexing/test_iloc.py b/pandas/tests/indexing/test_iloc.py
index f7e6665aad253..db088c7a2afea 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/indexing/test_iloc.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/indexing/test_iloc.py
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ def check(result, expected):
             tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
         dfl = DataFrame(np.random.randn(5, 2), columns=list("AB"))
-        check(dfl.iloc[:, 2:3], DataFrame(index=dfl.index))
+        check(dfl.iloc[:, 2:3], DataFrame(index=dfl.index, columns=[]))
         check(dfl.iloc[:, 1:3], dfl.iloc[:, [1]])
         check(dfl.iloc[4:6], dfl.iloc[[4]])
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/indexing/test_na_indexing.py b/pandas/tests/indexing/test_na_indexing.py
index 7e54bbc326880..5364cfe852430 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/indexing/test_na_indexing.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/indexing/test_na_indexing.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ def test_series_mask_boolean(values, dtype, mask, indexer_class, frame):
     if frame:
         if len(values) == 0:
             # Otherwise obj is an empty DataFrame with shape (0, 1)
-            obj = pd.DataFrame(dtype=dtype)
+            obj = pd.DataFrame(dtype=dtype, index=index)
         else:
             obj = obj.to_frame()
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/indexing/test_partial.py b/pandas/tests/indexing/test_partial.py
index 938056902e745..1ce507db618b9 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/indexing/test_partial.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/indexing/test_partial.py
@@ -100,12 +100,12 @@ def test_partial_set_empty_frame2(self):
 
         tm.assert_frame_equal(df, expected)
 
-        df = DataFrame()
+        df = DataFrame(index=Index([]))
         df["foo"] = Series(df.index)
 
         tm.assert_frame_equal(df, expected)
 
-        df = DataFrame()
+        df = DataFrame(index=Index([]))
         df["foo"] = df.index
 
         tm.assert_frame_equal(df, expected)
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ def test_partial_set_empty_frame4(self):
 
     def test_partial_set_empty_frame5(self):
         df = DataFrame()
-        tm.assert_index_equal(df.columns, Index([], dtype=object))
+        tm.assert_index_equal(df.columns, pd.RangeIndex(0))
         df2 = DataFrame()
         df2[1] = Series([1], index=["foo"])
         df.loc[:, 1] = Series([1], index=["foo"])
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ def test_partial_set_empty_frame_row(self):
         df = DataFrame({"A": [1, 2, 3], "B": [1.2, 4.2, 5.2]})
         y = df[df.A > 5]
         result = y.reindex(columns=["A", "B", "C"])
-        expected = DataFrame(columns=["A", "B", "C"], index=Index([], dtype="int64"))
+        expected = DataFrame(columns=["A", "B", "C"])
         expected["A"] = expected["A"].astype("int64")
         expected["B"] = expected["B"].astype("float64")
         expected["C"] = expected["C"].astype("float64")
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/excel/test_readers.py b/pandas/tests/io/excel/test_readers.py
index 822e24b224052..a204132963c94 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/excel/test_readers.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/excel/test_readers.py
@@ -1646,7 +1646,7 @@ def test_read_datetime_multiindex(self, request, engine, read_ext):
                 pd.to_datetime("03/01/2020").to_pydatetime(),
             ],
         )
-        expected = DataFrame([], columns=expected_column_index)
+        expected = DataFrame([], index=[], columns=expected_column_index)
 
         tm.assert_frame_equal(expected, actual)
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_info.py b/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_info.py
index 33c78baa1eedc..e33e1476af69a 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_info.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_info.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ def test_info_empty():
     expected = textwrap.dedent(
         """\
         <class 'pandas.core.frame.DataFrame'>
-        Index: 0 entries
+        RangeIndex: 0 entries
         Empty DataFrame\n"""
     )
     assert result == expected
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_to_latex.py b/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_to_latex.py
index 11ee41ed40ce8..d6999b32e6a81 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_to_latex.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_to_latex.py
@@ -152,8 +152,8 @@ def test_to_latex_empty_tabular(self):
             \begin{tabular}{l}
             \toprule
             Empty DataFrame
-            Columns: Index([], dtype='object')
-            Index: Index([], dtype='object') \\
+            Columns: RangeIndex(start=0, stop=0, step=1)
+            Index: RangeIndex(start=0, stop=0, step=1) \\
             \bottomrule
             \end{tabular}
             """
@@ -207,8 +207,8 @@ def test_to_latex_empty_longtable(self):
             \begin{longtable}{l}
             \toprule
             Empty DataFrame
-            Columns: Index([], dtype='object')
-            Index: Index([], dtype='object') \\
+            Columns: RangeIndex(start=0, stop=0, step=1)
+            Index: RangeIndex(start=0, stop=0, step=1) \\
             \end{longtable}
             """
         )
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/json/test_pandas.py b/pandas/tests/io/json/test_pandas.py
index 2f3fc4d0fcba8..4edd08014050e 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/json/test_pandas.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/json/test_pandas.py
@@ -207,12 +207,15 @@ def test_roundtrip_empty(self, orient, convert_axes):
         empty_frame = DataFrame()
         data = empty_frame.to_json(orient=orient)
         result = read_json(data, orient=orient, convert_axes=convert_axes)
-        expected = empty_frame.copy()
-
-        # TODO: both conditions below are probably bugs
-        if convert_axes:
-            expected.index = expected.index.astype(float)
-            expected.columns = expected.columns.astype(float)
+        if orient == "split":
+            idx = pd.Index([], dtype=(float if convert_axes else object))
+            expected = DataFrame(index=idx, columns=idx)
+        elif orient in ["index", "columns"]:
+            # TODO: this condition is probably a bug
+            idx = pd.Index([], dtype=(float if convert_axes else object))
+            expected = DataFrame(columns=idx)
+        else:
+            expected = empty_frame.copy()
 
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/parser/dtypes/test_empty.py b/pandas/tests/io/parser/dtypes/test_empty.py
index ee02af773129a..1f709a3cd8f28 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/parser/dtypes/test_empty.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/parser/dtypes/test_empty.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def test_dtype_all_columns_empty(all_parsers):
     parser = all_parsers
     result = parser.read_csv(StringIO("A,B"), dtype=str)
 
-    expected = DataFrame({"A": [], "B": []}, index=[], dtype=str)
+    expected = DataFrame({"A": [], "B": []}, dtype=str)
     tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
 
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ def test_empty_pass_dtype(all_parsers):
 
     expected = DataFrame(
         {"one": np.empty(0, dtype="u1"), "two": np.empty(0, dtype=object)},
-        index=Index([], dtype=object),
     )
     tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
@@ -81,7 +80,6 @@ def test_empty_with_mangled_column_pass_dtype_by_names(all_parsers):
 
     expected = DataFrame(
         {"one": np.empty(0, dtype="u1"), "one.1": np.empty(0, dtype="f")},
-        index=Index([], dtype=object),
     )
     tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
@@ -94,7 +92,6 @@ def test_empty_with_mangled_column_pass_dtype_by_indexes(all_parsers):
 
     expected = DataFrame(
         {"one": np.empty(0, dtype="u1"), "one.1": np.empty(0, dtype="f")},
-        index=Index([], dtype=object),
     )
     tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
@@ -106,7 +103,6 @@ def test_empty_with_dup_column_pass_dtype_by_indexes(all_parsers):
         [Series([], name="one", dtype="u1"), Series([], name="one.1", dtype="f")],
         axis=1,
     )
-    expected.index = expected.index.astype(object)
 
     data = "one,one"
     result = parser.read_csv(StringIO(data), dtype={0: "u1", 1: "f"})
@@ -133,11 +129,11 @@ def test_empty_with_dup_column_pass_dtype_by_indexes_raises(all_parsers):
         (np.float64, DataFrame(columns=["a", "b"], dtype=np.float64)),
         (
             "category",
-            DataFrame({"a": Categorical([]), "b": Categorical([])}, index=[]),
+            DataFrame({"a": Categorical([]), "b": Categorical([])}),
         ),
         (
             {"a": "category", "b": "category"},
-            DataFrame({"a": Categorical([]), "b": Categorical([])}, index=[]),
+            DataFrame({"a": Categorical([]), "b": Categorical([])}),
         ),
         ("datetime64[ns]", DataFrame(columns=["a", "b"], dtype="datetime64[ns]")),
         (
@@ -147,28 +143,24 @@ def test_empty_with_dup_column_pass_dtype_by_indexes_raises(all_parsers):
                     "a": Series([], dtype="timedelta64[ns]"),
                     "b": Series([], dtype="timedelta64[ns]"),
                 },
-                index=[],
             ),
         ),
         (
             {"a": np.int64, "b": np.int32},
             DataFrame(
                 {"a": Series([], dtype=np.int64), "b": Series([], dtype=np.int32)},
-                index=[],
             ),
         ),
         (
             {0: np.int64, 1: np.int32},
             DataFrame(
                 {"a": Series([], dtype=np.int64), "b": Series([], dtype=np.int32)},
-                index=[],
             ),
         ),
         (
             {"a": np.int64, 1: np.int32},
             DataFrame(
                 {"a": Series([], dtype=np.int64), "b": Series([], dtype=np.int32)},
-                index=[],
             ),
         ),
     ],
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_index_col.py b/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_index_col.py
index f30aba3db917e..13c4216710f84 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_index_col.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_index_col.py
@@ -251,6 +251,7 @@ def test_index_col_multiindex_columns_no_data(all_parsers):
     )
     expected = DataFrame(
         [],
+        index=Index([]),
         columns=MultiIndex.from_arrays(
             [["a1", "a2"], ["b1", "b2"]], names=["a0", "b0"]
         ),
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_parse_dates.py b/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_parse_dates.py
index 1a8149ae41fcb..202e26952f590 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_parse_dates.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_parse_dates.py
@@ -1249,7 +1249,7 @@ def test_parse_dates_empty_string(all_parsers):
         (
             "a\n04.15.2016",
             {"parse_dates": True, "index_col": 0},
-            DataFrame(index=DatetimeIndex(["2016-04-15"], name="a")),
+            DataFrame(index=DatetimeIndex(["2016-04-15"], name="a"), columns=[]),
         ),
         (
             "a,b\n04.15.2016,09.16.2013",
@@ -1264,7 +1264,8 @@ def test_parse_dates_empty_string(all_parsers):
             DataFrame(
                 index=MultiIndex.from_tuples(
                     [(datetime(2016, 4, 15), datetime(2013, 9, 16))], names=["a", "b"]
-                )
+                ),
+                columns=[],
             ),
         ),
     ],
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_read_fwf.py b/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_read_fwf.py
index 3e451239dcd40..61c493a2c368f 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_read_fwf.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/parser/test_read_fwf.py
@@ -904,7 +904,7 @@ def test_skiprows_with_iterator():
     expected_frames = [
         DataFrame({"a": [3, 4]}),
         DataFrame({"a": [5, 7, 8]}, index=[2, 3, 4]),
-        DataFrame({"a": []}, index=[], dtype="object"),
+        DataFrame({"a": []}, dtype="object"),
     ]
     for i, result in enumerate(df_iter):
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected_frames[i])
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/parser/usecols/test_usecols_basic.py b/pandas/tests/io/parser/usecols/test_usecols_basic.py
index bbf159845b1d6..032cb961103df 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/parser/usecols/test_usecols_basic.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/parser/usecols/test_usecols_basic.py
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ def test_usecols_with_integer_like_header(all_parsers, usecols, expected):
 
 def test_empty_usecols(all_parsers):
     data = "a,b,c\n1,2,3\n4,5,6"
-    expected = DataFrame()
+    expected = DataFrame(columns=Index([]))
     parser = all_parsers
 
     result = parser.read_csv(StringIO(data), usecols=set())
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ def test_np_array_usecols(all_parsers):
                 }
             ),
         ),
-        (lambda x: False, DataFrame()),
+        (lambda x: False, DataFrame(columns=Index([]))),
     ],
 )
 def test_callable_usecols(all_parsers, usecols, expected):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/test_parquet.py b/pandas/tests/io/test_parquet.py
index 75683a1d96bfb..ed72b5e251114 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/test_parquet.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/test_parquet.py
@@ -899,7 +899,7 @@ def test_partition_cols_pathlib(self, tmp_path, pa, df_compat, path_type):
 
     def test_empty_dataframe(self, pa):
         # GH #27339
-        df = pd.DataFrame()
+        df = pd.DataFrame(index=[], columns=[])
         check_round_trip(df, pa)
 
     def test_write_with_schema(self, pa):
@@ -1174,7 +1174,7 @@ def test_error_on_using_partition_cols_and_partition_on(
 
     def test_empty_dataframe(self, fp):
         # GH #27339
-        df = pd.DataFrame()
+        df = pd.DataFrame(index=[], columns=[])
         expected = df.copy()
         expected.index.name = "index"
         check_round_trip(df, fp, expected=expected)
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/test_pickle.py b/pandas/tests/io/test_pickle.py
index f07a4e3b58e86..3dafe6fe61b35 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/test_pickle.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/test_pickle.py
@@ -595,5 +595,5 @@ def test_pickle_frame_v124_unpickle_130():
     with open(path, "rb") as fd:
         df = pickle.load(fd)
 
-    expected = pd.DataFrame()
+    expected = pd.DataFrame(index=[], columns=[])
     tm.assert_frame_equal(df, expected)
diff --git a/pandas/tests/resample/test_base.py b/pandas/tests/resample/test_base.py
index 04f147ee40e62..55e8c4e818ce3 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/resample/test_base.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/resample/test_base.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def test_raises_on_non_datetimelike_index():
     xp = DataFrame()
     msg = (
         "Only valid with DatetimeIndex, TimedeltaIndex or PeriodIndex, "
-        "but got an instance of 'Index'"
+        "but got an instance of 'RangeIndex'"
     )
     with pytest.raises(TypeError, match=msg):
         xp.resample("A").mean()
diff --git a/pandas/tests/reshape/concat/test_empty.py b/pandas/tests/reshape/concat/test_empty.py
index 68220855b3d7a..0d95d94782ecf 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/reshape/concat/test_empty.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/reshape/concat/test_empty.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 import pandas as pd
 from pandas import (
     DataFrame,
-    Index,
+    RangeIndex,
     Series,
     concat,
     date_range,
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ def test_concat_empty_series(self):
         res = concat([s1, s2], axis=1)
         exp = DataFrame(
             {"x": [1, 2, 3], "y": [np.nan, np.nan, np.nan]},
-            index=Index([0, 1, 2], dtype="O"),
+            index=RangeIndex(3),
         )
         tm.assert_frame_equal(res, exp)
 
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def test_concat_empty_series(self):
         exp = DataFrame(
             {"x": [1, 2, 3], 0: [np.nan, np.nan, np.nan]},
             columns=["x", 0],
-            index=Index([0, 1, 2], dtype="O"),
+            index=RangeIndex(3),
         )
         tm.assert_frame_equal(res, exp)
 
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ def test_concat_inner_join_empty(self):
         # GH 15328
         df_empty = DataFrame()
         df_a = DataFrame({"a": [1, 2]}, index=[0, 1], dtype="int64")
-        df_expected = DataFrame({"a": []}, index=[], dtype="int64")
+        df_expected = DataFrame({"a": []}, index=RangeIndex(0), dtype="int64")
 
         for how, expected in [("inner", df_expected), ("outer", df_a)]:
             result = concat([df_a, df_empty], axis=1, join=how)
diff --git a/pandas/tests/reshape/merge/test_join.py b/pandas/tests/reshape/merge/test_join.py
index 4b32022e177e8..e5927aa094193 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/reshape/merge/test_join.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/reshape/merge/test_join.py
@@ -951,7 +951,7 @@ def test_join_empty(left_empty, how, exp):
         expected = DataFrame({"B": [np.nan], "A": [1], "C": [5]})
         expected = expected.set_index("A")
     elif exp == "empty":
-        expected = DataFrame(index=Index([]), columns=["B", "C"], dtype="int64")
+        expected = DataFrame(columns=["B", "C"], dtype="int64")
         if how != "cross":
             expected = expected.rename_axis("A")
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/reshape/merge/test_merge.py b/pandas/tests/reshape/merge/test_merge.py
index f9d4d4fdc19e7..fc2069c5d1e42 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/reshape/merge/test_merge.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/reshape/merge/test_merge.py
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ def test_merge_inner_join_empty(self):
         df_empty = DataFrame()
         df_a = DataFrame({"a": [1, 2]}, index=[0, 1], dtype="int64")
         result = merge(df_empty, df_a, left_index=True, right_index=True)
-        expected = DataFrame({"a": []}, index=[], dtype="int64")
+        expected = DataFrame({"a": []}, dtype="int64")
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
     def test_merge_common(self, df, df2):
@@ -461,11 +461,7 @@ def test_merge_left_empty_right_empty(self, join_type, kwarg):
         left = DataFrame(columns=["a", "b", "c"])
         right = DataFrame(columns=["x", "y", "z"])
 
-        exp_in = DataFrame(
-            columns=["a", "b", "c", "x", "y", "z"],
-            index=pd.Index([], dtype=object),
-            dtype=object,
-        )
+        exp_in = DataFrame(columns=["a", "b", "c", "x", "y", "z"], dtype=object)
 
         result = merge(left, right, how=join_type, **kwarg)
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, exp_in)
@@ -487,8 +483,6 @@ def test_merge_left_empty_right_notempty(self):
             columns=["a", "b", "c", "x", "y", "z"],
         )
         exp_in = exp_out[0:0]  # make empty DataFrame keeping dtype
-        # result will have object dtype
-        exp_in.index = exp_in.index.astype(object)
 
         def check1(exp, kwarg):
             result = merge(left, right, how="inner", **kwarg)
@@ -1672,7 +1666,10 @@ def test_merge_EA_dtype(self, any_numeric_ea_dtype, how, expected_data):
         d1 = DataFrame([(1,)], columns=["id"], dtype=any_numeric_ea_dtype)
         d2 = DataFrame([(2,)], columns=["id"], dtype=any_numeric_ea_dtype)
         result = merge(d1, d2, how=how)
-        expected = DataFrame(expected_data, columns=["id"], dtype=any_numeric_ea_dtype)
+        exp_index = RangeIndex(len(expected_data))
+        expected = DataFrame(
+            expected_data, index=exp_index, columns=["id"], dtype=any_numeric_ea_dtype
+        )
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
@@ -1689,7 +1686,10 @@ def test_merge_string_dtype(self, how, expected_data, any_string_dtype):
         d1 = DataFrame([("a",)], columns=["id"], dtype=any_string_dtype)
         d2 = DataFrame([("b",)], columns=["id"], dtype=any_string_dtype)
         result = merge(d1, d2, how=how)
-        expected = DataFrame(expected_data, columns=["id"], dtype=any_string_dtype)
+        exp_idx = RangeIndex(len(expected_data))
+        expected = DataFrame(
+            expected_data, index=exp_idx, columns=["id"], dtype=any_string_dtype
+        )
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
diff --git a/pandas/tests/reshape/test_pivot.py b/pandas/tests/reshape/test_pivot.py
index 9c1a07dd3cde4..9a72a8dadf8d0 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/reshape/test_pivot.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/reshape/test_pivot.py
@@ -1934,7 +1934,7 @@ def test_pivot_margins_name_unicode(self):
             frame, index=["foo"], aggfunc=len, margins=True, margins_name=greek
         )
         index = Index([1, 2, 3, greek], dtype="object", name="foo")
-        expected = DataFrame(index=index)
+        expected = DataFrame(index=index, columns=[])
         tm.assert_frame_equal(table, expected)
 
     def test_pivot_string_as_func(self):
@@ -2107,8 +2107,8 @@ def test_pivot_table_empty_aggfunc(self, margins):
         result = df.pivot_table(
             index="A", columns="D", values="id", aggfunc=np.size, margins=margins
         )
-        expected = DataFrame(index=Index([], dtype="int64", name="A"))
-        expected.columns.name = "D"
+        exp_cols = Index([], name="D")
+        expected = DataFrame(index=Index([], dtype="int64", name="A"), columns=exp_cols)
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
     def test_pivot_table_no_column_raises(self):
@@ -2342,7 +2342,7 @@ def test_pivot_duplicates(self):
     def test_pivot_empty(self):
         df = DataFrame(columns=["a", "b", "c"])
         result = df.pivot(index="a", columns="b", values="c")
-        expected = DataFrame()
+        expected = DataFrame(index=[], columns=[])
         tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected, check_names=False)
 
     def test_pivot_integer_bug(self):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/series/methods/test_reindex.py b/pandas/tests/series/methods/test_reindex.py
index 60ada18410415..698d66ebe7c29 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/series/methods/test_reindex.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/series/methods/test_reindex.py
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ def test_reindex_with_datetimes():
 
 def test_reindex_corner(datetime_series):
     # (don't forget to fix this) I think it's fixed
-    empty = Series(dtype=object)
+    empty = Series(index=[])
     empty.reindex(datetime_series.index, method="pad")  # it works
 
     # corner case: pad empty series
diff --git a/pandas/tests/series/test_constructors.py b/pandas/tests/series/test_constructors.py
index 8b18550dce746..054be774c2308 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/series/test_constructors.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/series/test_constructors.py
@@ -92,15 +92,15 @@ def test_unparseable_strings_with_dt64_dtype(self):
             # passed.
             (lambda idx: Series(index=idx), True),
             (lambda idx: Series(None, index=idx), True),
-            (lambda idx: Series({}, index=idx), True),
-            (lambda idx: Series((), index=idx), False),  # creates a RangeIndex
-            (lambda idx: Series([], index=idx), False),  # creates a RangeIndex
-            (lambda idx: Series((_ for _ in []), index=idx), False),  # RangeIndex
+            (lambda idx: Series({}, index=idx), False),  # creates an Index[object]
+            (lambda idx: Series((), index=idx), True),
+            (lambda idx: Series([], index=idx), True),
+            (lambda idx: Series((_ for _ in []), index=idx), True),
             (lambda idx: Series(data=None, index=idx), True),
-            (lambda idx: Series(data={}, index=idx), True),
-            (lambda idx: Series(data=(), index=idx), False),  # creates a RangeIndex
-            (lambda idx: Series(data=[], index=idx), False),  # creates a RangeIndex
-            (lambda idx: Series(data=(_ for _ in []), index=idx), False),  # RangeIndex
+            (lambda idx: Series(data={}, index=idx), False),  # creates an Index[object]
+            (lambda idx: Series(data=(), index=idx), True),
+            (lambda idx: Series(data=[], index=idx), True),
+            (lambda idx: Series(data=(_ for _ in []), index=idx), True),
         ],
     )
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("empty_index", [None, []])
diff --git a/pandas/tests/strings/test_strings.py b/pandas/tests/strings/test_strings.py
index beda123facb26..4385f71dc653f 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/strings/test_strings.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/strings/test_strings.py
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ def test_empty_str_methods(any_string_dtype):
         DataFrame(columns=[0, 1], dtype=any_string_dtype),
         empty.str.extract("()()", expand=False),
     )
-    tm.assert_frame_equal(empty_df, empty.str.get_dummies())
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(empty_df.set_axis([], axis=1), empty.str.get_dummies())
     tm.assert_series_equal(empty_str, empty_str.str.join(""))
     tm.assert_series_equal(empty_int, empty.str.len())
     tm.assert_series_equal(empty_object, empty_str.str.findall("a"))
diff --git a/pandas/tests/window/test_expanding.py b/pandas/tests/window/test_expanding.py
index 8417c6dd8419c..d30e3d7afcf19 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/window/test_expanding.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/window/test_expanding.py
@@ -453,9 +453,7 @@ def test_moment_functions_zero_length_pairwise(f):
     df2 = DataFrame(columns=Index(["a"], name="foo"), index=Index([], name="bar"))
     df2["a"] = df2["a"].astype("float64")
 
-    df1_expected = DataFrame(
-        index=MultiIndex.from_product([df1.index, df1.columns]), columns=Index([])
-    )
+    df1_expected = DataFrame(index=MultiIndex.from_product([df1.index, df1.columns]))
     df2_expected = DataFrame(
         index=MultiIndex.from_product([df2.index, df2.columns], names=["bar", "foo"]),
         columns=Index(["a"], name="foo"),
diff --git a/pandas/tests/window/test_pairwise.py b/pandas/tests/window/test_pairwise.py
index 04132ced044fc..315b3003f716b 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/window/test_pairwise.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/window/test_pairwise.py
@@ -197,9 +197,7 @@ def test_moment_functions_zero_length_pairwise(f):
     df2 = DataFrame(columns=Index(["a"], name="foo"), index=Index([], name="bar"))
     df2["a"] = df2["a"].astype("float64")
 
-    df1_expected = DataFrame(
-        index=MultiIndex.from_product([df1.index, df1.columns]), columns=Index([])
-    )
+    df1_expected = DataFrame(index=MultiIndex.from_product([df1.index, df1.columns]))
     df2_expected = DataFrame(
         index=MultiIndex.from_product([df2.index, df2.columns], names=["bar", "foo"]),
         columns=Index(["a"], name="foo"),