diff --git a/internal/README.md b/internal/README.md
index 3976f0484..434d9ada6 100644
--- a/internal/README.md
+++ b/internal/README.md
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ type BalancesByAssetsByAccounts map[string]BalancesByAssets
 ```go
 type Configuration struct {
     Bucket   string            `json:"bucket" bun:"bucket,type:varchar(255)"`
-    Metadata metadata.Metadata `json:"metadata" bun:"metadata,type:jsonb"`
+    Metadata metadata.Metadata `json:"metadata" bun:"metadata,type:jsonb,nullzero"`
     Features FeatureSet        `json:"features" bun:"features,type:jsonb"`
 }
 ```
diff --git a/internal/ledger.go b/internal/ledger.go
index e80b4cc72..0f44ab61a 100644
--- a/internal/ledger.go
+++ b/internal/ledger.go
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ func shortenFeature(feature string) string {
 
 type Configuration struct {
 	Bucket   string            `json:"bucket" bun:"bucket,type:varchar(255)"`
-	Metadata metadata.Metadata `json:"metadata" bun:"metadata,type:jsonb"`
+	Metadata metadata.Metadata `json:"metadata" bun:"metadata,type:jsonb,nullzero"`
 	Features FeatureSet        `json:"features" bun:"features,type:jsonb"`
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/storage/driver/migrations.go b/internal/storage/driver/migrations.go
index 404a4f516..ab69e3be3 100644
--- a/internal/storage/driver/migrations.go
+++ b/internal/storage/driver/migrations.go
@@ -202,6 +202,18 @@ func GetMigrator() *migrations.Migrator {
 				})
 			},
 		},
+		migrations.Migration{
+			Name: "set default metadata on ledgers",
+			Up: func(ctx context.Context, db bun.IDB) error {
+				return db.RunInTx(ctx, &sql.TxOptions{}, func(ctx context.Context, tx bun.Tx) error {
+					_, err := tx.ExecContext(ctx, `
+						alter table _system.ledgers
+						alter column metadata set default '{}'::jsonb;
+					`)
+					return err
+				})
+			},
+		},
 	)
 
 	return migrator