diff --git a/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/JsonUtils.java b/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/JsonUtils.java
index 396c21ad74a..392d6155702 100644
--- a/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/JsonUtils.java
+++ b/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/JsonUtils.java
@@ -378,6 +378,10 @@ private static List<Map<String, String>> flatten(JsonNode node, JsonIndexConfig
       return Collections.emptyList();
     }
 
+    if (node.isMissingNode()) {
+      return Collections.emptyList();
+    }
+
     // Value
     if (node.isValueNode()) {
       String valueAsText = node.asText();
diff --git a/pinot-spi/src/test/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/JsonUtilsTest.java b/pinot-spi/src/test/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/JsonUtilsTest.java
index 8f425efef97..cf542926d39 100644
--- a/pinot-spi/src/test/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/JsonUtilsTest.java
+++ b/pinot-spi/src/test/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/JsonUtilsTest.java
@@ -632,4 +632,13 @@ public void testInferSchema()
         .addDateTime("hoursSinceEpoch", FieldSpec.DataType.INT, "1:HOURS:EPOCH", "1:HOURS").build();
     Assert.assertEquals(inferredPinotSchema, expectedSchema);
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testEmptyString()
+      throws IOException {
+    JsonIndexConfig jsonIndexConfig = new JsonIndexConfig();
+    JsonNode jsonNode = JsonUtils.stringToJsonNode("");
+    List<Map<String, String>> flattenedRecords = JsonUtils.flatten(jsonNode, jsonIndexConfig);
+    assertTrue(flattenedRecords.isEmpty());
+  }
 }