diff --git a/src/raft.rs b/src/raft.rs
index 5af1eca4..1c3e79a6 100644
--- a/src/raft.rs
+++ b/src/raft.rs
@@ -380,6 +380,9 @@ impl<T: Storage> Raft<T> {
         if raft_state.hard_state != HardState::default() {
             r.load_state(&raft_state.hard_state);
         }
+        if !r.prs.is_empty() && r.term == 0 {
+            fatal!(r.logger, "Invalid term value: 0");
+        }
         if c.applied > 0 {
             r.commit_apply(c.applied);
         }
diff --git a/src/storage.rs b/src/storage.rs
index ae58f566..b40b1966 100644
--- a/src/storage.rs
+++ b/src/storage.rs
@@ -419,6 +419,8 @@ impl MemStorage {
         // In practice, we choose the second way by assigning non-zero index to first index. Here
         // we choose the first way for historical reason and easier to write tests.
         core.raft_state.conf_state = ConfState::from(conf_state);
+        // Initialize term with a valid value (anything except 0)
+        core.raft_state.hard_state.term = 1;
     }
 
     /// Opens up a read lock on the storage and returns a guard handle. Use this
diff --git a/src/tracker.rs b/src/tracker.rs
index 4814d381..6d22751c 100644
--- a/src/tracker.rs
+++ b/src/tracker.rs
@@ -240,6 +240,10 @@ impl ProgressTracker {
         self.votes.clear();
     }
 
+    pub(crate) fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
+        self.progress.is_empty() && self.votes.is_empty()
+    }
+
     /// Returns true if (and only if) there is only one voting member
     /// (i.e. the leader) in the current configuration.
     pub fn is_singleton(&self) -> bool {