diff --git a/src/dask_awkward/lib/io/io.py b/src/dask_awkward/lib/io/io.py
index 9a55ddc1..2b2ac8c2 100644
--- a/src/dask_awkward/lib/io/io.py
+++ b/src/dask_awkward/lib/io/io.py
@@ -9,11 +9,18 @@
 import awkward as ak
 import numpy as np
 from awkward.types.numpytype import primitive_to_dtype
+from awkward.typetracer import length_zero_if_typetracer
 from dask.base import flatten, tokenize
 from dask.highlevelgraph import HighLevelGraph
 from dask.utils import funcname, is_integer, parse_bytes
 from fsspec.utils import infer_compression
 
+try:
+    from distributed.queues import Queue
+except ImportError:
+    Queue = None  # type: ignore
+
+
 from dask_awkward.layers.layers import (
     AwkwardBlockwiseLayer,
     AwkwardInputLayer,
@@ -417,14 +424,15 @@ def to_dataframe(
         label="to-dataframe",
         **kwargs,
     )
-    meta = ak.to_dataframe(
-        ak.typetracer.length_zero_if_typetracer(array._meta), **kwargs
-    )
-    return new_dd_object(
-        intermediate.dask,
-        intermediate.name,
-        meta,
-        intermediate.divisions,
+    meta = ak.to_dataframe(length_zero_if_typetracer(array._meta), **kwargs)
+    return cast(
+        DaskDataFrame,
+        new_dd_object(
+            intermediate.dask,
+            intermediate.name,
+            meta,
+            intermediate.divisions,
+        ),
     )
 
 
@@ -466,12 +474,26 @@ def return_empty_on_raise(
     def wrapped(*args, **kwargs):
         try:
             return fn(*args, **kwargs)
-        except allowed_exceptions:
+        except allowed_exceptions as err:
+            if Queue is not None:
+                queue = Queue("dak_returned_empty")
+                queue.put((args, kwargs, str(err)))
+
             return fn.mock_empty(backend)
 
     return wrapped
 
 
+def returned_empty_report() -> list[Any]:
+    if Queue is None:
+        return []
+    queue = Queue("dak_returned_empty")
+    things = []
+    while queue.qsize():
+        things.append(queue.get())
+    return things
+
+
 def from_map(
     func: Callable,
     *iterables: Iterable,
diff --git a/src/dask_awkward/lib/testutils.py b/src/dask_awkward/lib/testutils.py
index 6d08e928..730e3d97 100644
--- a/src/dask_awkward/lib/testutils.py
+++ b/src/dask_awkward/lib/testutils.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 import awkward as ak
 import numpy as np
+from awkward.typetracer import typetracer_from_form
 from dask.base import is_dask_collection
 from packaging.version import Version
 
@@ -223,3 +224,25 @@ def unnamed_root_ds() -> Array:
         ],
     ]
     return ak.Array(ds * 3)
+
+
+class RandomFailFromListsFn:
+    def __init__(self, form):
+        self.form = form
+
+    def __call__(self, x: list) -> ak.Array:
+        n = random.randint(0, 9)
+        if n < 5:
+            raise OSError("BAD!")
+
+        return ak.Array(x)
+
+    def mock(self):
+        return typetracer_from_form(self.form)
+
+    def mock_empty(self, backend="cpu"):
+        return ak.to_backend(
+            self.form.length_zero_array(highlevel=False),
+            backend=backend,
+            highlevel=True,
+        )
diff --git a/tests/test_io.py b/tests/test_io.py
index a1d553f1..1e622f5e 100644
--- a/tests/test_io.py
+++ b/tests/test_io.py
@@ -339,29 +339,9 @@ def test_bytes_with_sample(
         assert len(sample_bytes) == 127
 
 
-class RandomFailFromListsFn:
-    def __init__(self, form):
-        self.form = form
-
-    def __call__(self, x: list) -> ak.Array:
-        n = random.randint(0, 9)
-        if n < 5:
-            raise OSError("BAD!")
-
-        return ak.Array(x)
-
-    def mock(self):
-        return ak.typetracer.typetracer_from_form(self.form)
-
-    def mock_empty(self, backend="cpu"):
-        return ak.to_backend(
-            self.form.length_zero_array(highlevel=False),
-            backend=backend,
-            highlevel=True,
-        )
-
-
 def test_random_fail_from_lists():
+    from dask_awkward.lib.testutils import RandomFailFromListsFn
+
     single = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5], [6], [], [1, 2, 3]]
     many = [single] * 30
     divs = (0, *np.cumsum(list(map(len, many))))