diff --git a/connect/json/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/json/JsonConverter.java b/connect/json/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/json/JsonConverter.java
index 8a2d6768cc96..1a175381e8f1 100644
--- a/connect/json/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/json/JsonConverter.java
+++ b/connect/json/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/json/JsonConverter.java
@@ -729,6 +729,7 @@ private static Object convertToConnect(Schema schema, JsonNode jsonValue) {
         } else {
             switch (jsonValue.getNodeType()) {
                 case NULL:
+                case MISSING:
                     // Special case. With no schema
                     return null;
                 case BOOLEAN:
@@ -751,7 +752,6 @@ private static Object convertToConnect(Schema schema, JsonNode jsonValue) {
                     break;
 
                 case BINARY:
-                case MISSING:
                 case POJO:
                 default:
                     schemaType = null;
diff --git a/connect/json/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/json/JsonConverterTest.java b/connect/json/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/json/JsonConverterTest.java
index 2e189e2d584a..a1ac71d4c8d5 100644
--- a/connect/json/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/json/JsonConverterTest.java
+++ b/connect/json/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/json/JsonConverterTest.java
@@ -195,6 +195,36 @@ public void nullToConnect() {
         assertEquals(SchemaAndValue.NULL, converted);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * When schemas are disabled, empty data should be decoded to an empty envelope.
+     * This test verifies the case where `schemas.enable` configuration is set to false, and
+     * {@link JsonConverter} converts empty bytes to {@link SchemaAndValue#NULL}.
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void emptyBytesToConnect() {
+        // This characterizes the messages with empty data when Json schemas is disabled
+        Map<String, Boolean> props = Collections.singletonMap("schemas.enable", false);
+        converter.configure(props, true);
+        SchemaAndValue converted = converter.toConnectData(TOPIC, "".getBytes());
+        assertEquals(SchemaAndValue.NULL, converted);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * When schemas are disabled, fields are mapped to Connect maps.
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void schemalessWithEmptyFieldValueToConnect() {
+        // This characterizes the messages with empty data when Json schemas is disabled
+        Map<String, Boolean> props = Collections.singletonMap("schemas.enable", false);
+        converter.configure(props, true);
+        String input = "{ \"a\": \"\", \"b\": null}";
+        SchemaAndValue converted = converter.toConnectData(TOPIC, input.getBytes());
+        Map<String, String> expected = new HashMap<>();
+        expected.put("a", "");
+        expected.put("b", null);
+        assertEquals(new SchemaAndValue(null, expected), converted);
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void nullSchemaPrimitiveToConnect() {
         SchemaAndValue converted = converter.toConnectData(TOPIC, "{ \"schema\": null, \"payload\": null }".getBytes());