diff --git a/pulsar-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/FieldParser.java b/pulsar-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/FieldParser.java
index cb0b6a5841936..1ebeb5ddf230e 100644
--- a/pulsar-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/FieldParser.java
+++ b/pulsar-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/FieldParser.java
@@ -228,8 +228,10 @@ public static <T> void setEmptyValue(String strValue, Field field, T obj)
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                         format("unsupported field-type %s for %s", field.getType(), field.getName()));
             }
-        } else if (Number.class.isAssignableFrom(field.getType()) || fieldType.getClass().equals(String.class)) {
+        } else if (Number.class.isAssignableFrom(field.getType())) {
             field.set(obj, null);
+        } else if (String.class.equals(field.getType())) {
+            field.set(obj, "");
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/pulsar-common/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/FieldParserTest.java b/pulsar-common/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/FieldParserTest.java
index 1f9a1e2688267..efbbf5c5ec216 100644
--- a/pulsar-common/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/FieldParserTest.java
+++ b/pulsar-common/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/FieldParserTest.java
@@ -107,6 +107,18 @@ public void testMapWithEqualsSignAndEmptyValue() {
         assertEquals(config.stringStringMap.get("key2"), "");
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testEmptyValuePreservesStringFieldAsEmptyString() {
+        Map<String, String> properties = new HashMap<>();
+        properties.put("name", "");
+
+        MyConfig config = new MyConfig();
+        config.name = "configured";
+        FieldParser.update(properties, config);
+
+        assertEquals(config.name, "");
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testNullStrValue() throws Exception {
         class TestMap {