diff --git a/zio-schema-json/shared/src/main/scala/zio/schema/codec/JsonCodec.scala b/zio-schema-json/shared/src/main/scala/zio/schema/codec/JsonCodec.scala
index 38ea34ff6..00440b588 100644
--- a/zio-schema-json/shared/src/main/scala/zio/schema/codec/JsonCodec.scala
+++ b/zio-schema-json/shared/src/main/scala/zio/schema/codec/JsonCodec.scala
@@ -1089,7 +1089,7 @@ object JsonCodec {
                 case e: Throwable => throw new RuntimeException(s"Failed to encode field '${s.name}' in $schema'", e)
               }
             val value = s.get(a)
-            if (!enc.isNothing(value) && !isEmptyOptionalValue(s, value, cfg)) {
+            if (!isEmptyOptionalValue(s, value, cfg)) {
               if (first)
                 first = false
               else {
diff --git a/zio-schema-json/shared/src/test/scala/zio/schema/codec/JsonCodecSpec.scala b/zio-schema-json/shared/src/test/scala/zio/schema/codec/JsonCodecSpec.scala
index 23d46c157..47487ab52 100644
--- a/zio-schema-json/shared/src/test/scala/zio/schema/codec/JsonCodecSpec.scala
+++ b/zio-schema-json/shared/src/test/scala/zio/schema/codec/JsonCodecSpec.scala
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import zio.Console._
 import zio._
 import zio.json.JsonDecoder.JsonError
 import zio.json.ast.Json
-import zio.json.{ DeriveJsonEncoder, JsonEncoder }
+import zio.json.{ DeriveJsonEncoder, JsonEncoder, jsonExplicitNull }
 import zio.schema.CaseSet._
 import zio.schema._
 import zio.schema.annotation._
@@ -118,33 +118,41 @@ object JsonCodecSpec extends ZIOSpecDefault {
     suite("empty collections config")(
       test("list empty") {
         assertEncodesJson(
-          Schema[ListAndMap],
-          ListAndMap(Nil, Map("foo" -> 1)),
-          """{"map":{"foo":1}}""",
+          Schema[ListAndMapAndOption],
+          ListAndMapAndOption(Nil, Map("foo" -> 1), Some("foo")),
+          """{"map":{"foo":1},"option":"foo"}""",
           JsonCodec.Config(ignoreEmptyCollections = true)
         )
       },
       test("map empty") {
         assertEncodesJson(
-          Schema[ListAndMap],
-          ListAndMap(List("foo"), Map.empty),
-          """{"list":["foo"]}""",
+          Schema[ListAndMapAndOption],
+          ListAndMapAndOption(List("foo"), Map.empty, Some("foo")),
+          """{"list":["foo"],"option":"foo"}""",
+          JsonCodec.Config(ignoreEmptyCollections = true)
+        )
+      },
+      test("option empty") {
+        assertEncodesJson(
+          Schema[ListAndMapAndOption],
+          ListAndMapAndOption(List("foo"), Map("foo" -> 1), None),
+          """{"list":["foo"],"map":{"foo":1}}""",
           JsonCodec.Config(ignoreEmptyCollections = true)
         )
       },
       test("all empty") {
         assertEncodesJson(
-          Schema[ListAndMap],
-          ListAndMap(Nil, Map.empty),
+          Schema[ListAndMapAndOption],
+          ListAndMapAndOption(Nil, Map.empty, None),
           """{}""",
           JsonCodec.Config(ignoreEmptyCollections = true)
         )
       },
       test("all empty, but don't ignore empty collections") {
         assertEncodesJson(
-          Schema[ListAndMap],
-          ListAndMap(Nil, Map.empty),
-          """{"list":[],"map":{}}""",
+          Schema[ListAndMapAndOption],
+          ListAndMapAndOption(Nil, Map.empty, None),
+          """{"list":[],"map":{},"option":null}""",
           JsonCodec.Config(ignoreEmptyCollections = false)
         )
       }
@@ -269,7 +277,7 @@ object JsonCodecSpec extends ZIOSpecDefault {
         assertEncodes(
           WithOptionFields.schema,
           WithOptionFields(Some("s"), None),
-          charSequenceToByteChunk("""{"a":"s"}""")
+          charSequenceToByteChunk("""{"a":"s","b":null}""")
         )
       }
     ),
@@ -327,7 +335,7 @@ object JsonCodecSpec extends ZIOSpecDefault {
         assertEncodes(
           Subscription.schema,
           Subscription.Unlimited(None),
-          charSequenceToByteChunk("""{"type":"unlimited"}""")
+          charSequenceToByteChunk("""{"type":"unlimited","until":null}""")
         )
       },
       suite("with no discriminator")(
@@ -871,7 +879,7 @@ object JsonCodecSpec extends ZIOSpecDefault {
         assertDecodes(
           WithOptionFields.schema,
           WithOptionFields(Some("s"), None),
-          charSequenceToByteChunk("""{"a":"s"}""")
+          charSequenceToByteChunk("""{"a":"s","b":null}""")
         )
       },
       test("case class with option fields accept empty json object as value") {
@@ -1510,8 +1518,7 @@ object JsonCodecSpec extends ZIOSpecDefault {
           Enumeration3(StringValue3("foo"))
         ) &> assertEncodesThenDecodes(
           Schema[Enumeration3],
-          Enumeration3(StringValue3Multi("foo", "bar")),
-          print = true
+          Enumeration3(StringValue3Multi("foo", "bar"))
         )
       },
       test("of case classes with discriminator") {
@@ -1878,6 +1885,7 @@ object JsonCodecSpec extends ZIOSpecDefault {
     charSequenceToByteChunk(encoded)
   }
 
+  @jsonExplicitNull
   case class SearchRequest(query: String, pageNumber: Int, resultPerPage: Int, nextPage: Option[String])
 
   object SearchRequest {
@@ -2159,10 +2167,10 @@ object JsonCodecSpec extends ZIOSpecDefault {
     implicit lazy val schema: Schema[WithOptField] = DeriveSchema.gen[WithOptField]
   }
 
-  final case class ListAndMap(list: List[String], map: Map[String, Int])
+  final case class ListAndMapAndOption(list: List[String], map: Map[String, Int], option: Option[String])
 
-  object ListAndMap {
-    implicit lazy val schema: Schema[ListAndMap] = DeriveSchema.gen[ListAndMap]
+  object ListAndMapAndOption {
+    implicit lazy val schema: Schema[ListAndMapAndOption] = DeriveSchema.gen[ListAndMapAndOption]
   }
 
   final case class KeyWrapper(key: String)