diff --git a/kafka-connect/src/main/java/io/tabular/iceberg/connect/channel/EventDecoder.java b/kafka-connect/src/main/java/io/tabular/iceberg/connect/channel/EventDecoder.java
index 7ba4f878..908218e5 100644
--- a/kafka-connect/src/main/java/io/tabular/iceberg/connect/channel/EventDecoder.java
+++ b/kafka-connect/src/main/java/io/tabular/iceberg/connect/channel/EventDecoder.java
@@ -116,12 +116,12 @@ private Payload convertPayload(io.tabular.iceberg.connect.events.Payload payload
           pay.commitId(),
           TableReference.of(catalogName, pay.tableName().toIdentifier()),
           pay.snapshotId(),
-          OffsetDateTime.ofInstant(Instant.ofEpochMilli(pay.vtts()), ZoneOffset.UTC));
+          pay.vtts() == null ? null : OffsetDateTime.ofInstant(Instant.ofEpochMilli(pay.vtts()), ZoneOffset.UTC));
     } else if (payload instanceof CommitCompletePayload) {
       CommitCompletePayload pay = (CommitCompletePayload) payload;
       return new CommitComplete(
           pay.commitId(),
-          OffsetDateTime.ofInstant(Instant.ofEpochMilli(pay.vtts()), ZoneOffset.UTC));
+          pay.vtts() == null ? null : OffsetDateTime.ofInstant(Instant.ofEpochMilli(pay.vtts()), ZoneOffset.UTC));
     } else {
       throw new IllegalStateException(
           String.format("Unknown event payload: %s", payload.getSchema()));
diff --git a/kafka-connect/src/test/java/io/tabular/iceberg/connect/channel/EventDecoderTest.java b/kafka-connect/src/test/java/io/tabular/iceberg/connect/channel/EventDecoderTest.java
index 3d1ecab9..54e157de 100644
--- a/kafka-connect/src/test/java/io/tabular/iceberg/connect/channel/EventDecoderTest.java
+++ b/kafka-connect/src/test/java/io/tabular/iceberg/connect/channel/EventDecoderTest.java
@@ -239,6 +239,30 @@ public void testCommitTableBecomesCommitToTable() {
     assertThat(payload.tableReference().identifier()).isEqualTo(TableIdentifier.of("db", "tbl"));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testCommitTableBecomesCommitToTableNullVtts() {
+    io.tabular.iceberg.connect.events.Event event =
+            new io.tabular.iceberg.connect.events.Event(
+                    "cg-connector",
+                    EventType.COMMIT_TABLE,
+                    new CommitTablePayload(
+                            commitId, new TableName(Collections.singletonList("db"), "tbl"), 1L, null));
+
+    byte[] data = io.tabular.iceberg.connect.events.Event.encode(event);
+
+    Event result = eventDecoder.decode(data);
+    assertThat(event.groupId()).isEqualTo("cg-connector");
+    assertThat(result.type()).isEqualTo(PayloadType.COMMIT_TO_TABLE);
+    assertThat(result.payload()).isInstanceOf(CommitToTable.class);
+    CommitToTable payload = (CommitToTable) result.payload();
+
+    assertThat(payload.commitId()).isEqualTo(commitId);
+    assertThat(payload.snapshotId()).isEqualTo(1L);
+    assertThat(payload.validThroughTs()).isNull();
+    assertThat(payload.tableReference().catalog()).isEqualTo(catalogName);
+    assertThat(payload.tableReference().identifier()).isEqualTo(TableIdentifier.of("db", "tbl"));
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testCommitCompleteBecomesCommitCompleteSerialization() {
     io.tabular.iceberg.connect.events.Event event =
@@ -255,4 +279,20 @@ public void testCommitCompleteBecomesCommitCompleteSerialization() {
     assertThat(payload.validThroughTs())
         .isEqualTo(OffsetDateTime.ofInstant(Instant.ofEpochMilli(2L), ZoneOffset.UTC));
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testCommitCompleteBecomesCommitCompleteSerializationNullVtts() {
+    io.tabular.iceberg.connect.events.Event event =
+            new io.tabular.iceberg.connect.events.Event(
+                    "cg-connector", EventType.COMMIT_COMPLETE, new CommitCompletePayload(commitId, null));
+
+    byte[] data = io.tabular.iceberg.connect.events.Event.encode(event);
+
+    Event result = eventDecoder.decode(data);
+    assertThat(result.type()).isEqualTo(PayloadType.COMMIT_COMPLETE);
+    assertThat(result.payload()).isInstanceOf(CommitComplete.class);
+    CommitComplete payload = (CommitComplete) result.payload();
+    assertThat(payload.commitId()).isEqualTo(commitId);
+    assertThat(payload.validThroughTs()).isNull();
+  }
 }