1 files changed, 4 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/container-search/src/main/java/com/yahoo/fs4/MapEncoder.java b/container-search/src/main/java/com/yahoo/fs4/MapEncoder.java
index 3e45d7e5f53..f7e01bc1254 100644
--- a/container-search/src/main/java/com/yahoo/fs4/MapEncoder.java
+++ b/container-search/src/main/java/com/yahoo/fs4/MapEncoder.java
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ public class MapEncoder {
     // TODO: Time to refactor
 
     private static byte [] getUtf8(Object value) {
-        if (value instanceof Tensor) {
+        if (value == null) {
+            return Utf8.toBytes("");
+        } else if (value instanceof Tensor) {
             return TypedBinaryFormat.encode((Tensor)value);
         } else {
             return Utf8.toBytes(value.toString());
@@ -70,11 +72,7 @@ public class MapEncoder {
             buffer.putInt(utf8.length);
             buffer.put(utf8);
             Object value = entry.getValue();
-            if (value == null) {
-                utf8 = Utf8.toBytes("");
-            } else {
-                utf8 = getUtf8(value);
-            }
+            utf8 = getUtf8(value);
             buffer.putInt(utf8.length);
             buffer.put(utf8);
         }