diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/appsec/springboot/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/appsec/ExtendedDataCollectionSmokeTest.groovy b/dd-smoke-tests/appsec/springboot/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/appsec/ExtendedDataCollectionSmokeTest.groovy
index dc97e26ba11..99cfbf73327 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/appsec/springboot/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/appsec/ExtendedDataCollectionSmokeTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/appsec/springboot/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/appsec/ExtendedDataCollectionSmokeTest.groovy
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ class ExtendedDataCollectionSmokeTest extends AbstractAppSecServerSmokeTest {
     }
     assert trigger != null, 'test trigger not found'
 
-    rootSpan.span.metaStruct != null
+    !rootSpan.span.metaStruct.isEmpty()
     def requestBody = rootSpan.span.metaStruct.get('http.request.body')
     assert requestBody != null, 'request body is not set'
     !rootSpan.meta.containsKey('_dd.appsec.request_body_size.exceeded')
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ class ExtendedDataCollectionSmokeTest extends AbstractAppSecServerSmokeTest {
     }
     assert trigger != null, 'test trigger not found'
 
-    rootSpan.span.metaStruct != null
+    !rootSpan.span.metaStruct.isEmpty()
     def requestBody = rootSpan.span.metaStruct.get('http.request.body')
     assert requestBody != null, 'request body is not set'
     !rootSpan.meta.containsKey('_dd.appsec.request_body_size.exceeded')
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ class ExtendedDataCollectionSmokeTest extends AbstractAppSecServerSmokeTest {
     }
     assert trigger != null, 'test trigger not found'
 
-    rootSpan.span.metaStruct != null
+    !rootSpan.span.metaStruct.isEmpty()
     def requestBody = rootSpan.span.metaStruct.get('http.request.body')
     assert requestBody != null, 'request body is not set'
     rootSpan.meta.containsKey('_dd.appsec.request_body_size.exceeded')
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ class ExtendedDataCollectionSmokeTest extends AbstractAppSecServerSmokeTest {
     }
     assert trigger == null, 'test trigger found'
 
-    rootSpan.span.metaStruct == null
+    rootSpan.span.metaStruct.isEmpty()
   }
 
   void 'test request body collection if WAF event with default-config'(){
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ class ExtendedDataCollectionSmokeTest extends AbstractAppSecServerSmokeTest {
     }
     assert trigger != null, 'test trigger not found'
 
-    rootSpan.span.metaStruct != null
+    !rootSpan.span.metaStruct.isEmpty()
     def requestBody = rootSpan.span.metaStruct.get('http.request.body')
     assert requestBody != null, 'request body is not set'
     !rootSpan.meta.containsKey('_dd.appsec.request_body_size.exceeded')
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/appsec/springboot/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/appsec/SpringBootSmokeTest.groovy b/dd-smoke-tests/appsec/springboot/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/appsec/SpringBootSmokeTest.groovy
index dc573ec37ff..f5ad2d20bdd 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/appsec/springboot/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/appsec/SpringBootSmokeTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/appsec/springboot/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/appsec/SpringBootSmokeTest.groovy
@@ -699,7 +699,7 @@ class SpringBootSmokeTest extends AbstractAppSecServerSmokeTest {
       }
     }
     assert trigger != null, 'test trigger not found'
-    rootSpan.span.metaStruct != null
+    !rootSpan.span.metaStruct.isEmpty()
     def stack = rootSpan.span.metaStruct.get('_dd.stack')
     assert stack != null, 'stack is not set'
     def exploit = stack.get('exploit')
@@ -774,7 +774,7 @@ class SpringBootSmokeTest extends AbstractAppSecServerSmokeTest {
       }
     }
     assert trigger != null, 'test trigger not found'
-    rootSpan.span.metaStruct == null
+    rootSpan.span.metaStruct.isEmpty()
 
     where:
     variant               | _
@@ -814,7 +814,7 @@ class SpringBootSmokeTest extends AbstractAppSecServerSmokeTest {
       }
     }
     assert trigger != null, 'test trigger not found'
-    rootSpan.span.metaStruct == null
+    rootSpan.span.metaStruct.isEmpty()
 
     where:
     variant | _
@@ -853,7 +853,7 @@ class SpringBootSmokeTest extends AbstractAppSecServerSmokeTest {
       }
     }
     assert trigger != null, 'test trigger not found'
-    rootSpan.span.metaStruct == null
+    rootSpan.span.metaStruct.isEmpty()
   }
 
   def findFirstMatchingSpan(String resource) {
@@ -939,7 +939,7 @@ class SpringBootSmokeTest extends AbstractAppSecServerSmokeTest {
       }
     }
     assert trigger != null, 'test trigger not found'
-    rootSpan.span.metaStruct == null
+    rootSpan.span.metaStruct.isEmpty()
 
     where:
     endpoint                    | cmd                              | params
@@ -990,7 +990,7 @@ class SpringBootSmokeTest extends AbstractAppSecServerSmokeTest {
       }
     }
     assert trigger != null, 'test trigger not found'
-    rootSpan.span.metaStruct == null
+    rootSpan.span.metaStruct.isEmpty()
 
     where:
     endpoint           | cmd                                  | params
diff --git a/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v04/raw/SpanV04.java b/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v04/raw/SpanV04.java
index bae18215d3d..9ee2e8a53e0 100644
--- a/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v04/raw/SpanV04.java
+++ b/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v04/raw/SpanV04.java
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 package datadog.trace.test.agent.decoder.v04.raw;
 
+import static java.util.Collections.emptyMap;
+import static java.util.Collections.unmodifiableMap;
+
 import datadog.trace.test.agent.decoder.DecodedSpan;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -265,9 +267,9 @@ public SpanV04(
     this.start = start;
     this.duration = duration;
     this.error = error;
-    this.meta = Collections.unmodifiableMap(meta);
-    this.metaStruct = metaStruct == null ? null : Collections.unmodifiableMap(metaStruct);
-    this.metrics = Collections.unmodifiableMap(metrics);
+    this.meta = unmodifiableMap(meta);
+    this.metaStruct = metaStruct == null ? emptyMap() : unmodifiableMap(metaStruct);
+    this.metrics = unmodifiableMap(metrics);
     this.type = type;
   }
 
diff --git a/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v05/raw/SpanV05.java b/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v05/raw/SpanV05.java
index 3ceafa45ff5..6ac6469316f 100644
--- a/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v05/raw/SpanV05.java
+++ b/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v05/raw/SpanV05.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package datadog.trace.test.agent.decoder.v05.raw;
 
+import static java.util.Collections.emptyMap;
+
 import datadog.trace.test.agent.decoder.DecodedSpan;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -190,7 +192,7 @@ public Map<String, String> getMeta() {
 
   public Map<String, Object> getMetaStruct() {
     // XXX: meta_struct is not supported in v0.5.
-    return null;
+    return emptyMap();
   }
 
   public Map<String, Number> getMetrics() {
diff --git a/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v1/raw/SpanV1.java b/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v1/raw/SpanV1.java
index 676a450df55..6b0cbaa3bc7 100644
--- a/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v1/raw/SpanV1.java
+++ b/utils/test-agent-utils/decoder/src/main/java/datadog/trace/test/agent/decoder/v1/raw/SpanV1.java
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 package datadog.trace.test.agent.decoder.v1.raw;
 
+import static java.util.Collections.emptyMap;
+import static java.util.Collections.unmodifiableMap;
+
 import datadog.trace.test.agent.decoder.DecodedSpan;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -492,9 +494,9 @@ public SpanV1(
     this.start = start;
     this.duration = duration;
     this.error = error;
-    this.meta = Collections.unmodifiableMap(meta);
-    this.metaStruct = metaStruct == null ? null : Collections.unmodifiableMap(metaStruct);
-    this.metrics = Collections.unmodifiableMap(metrics);
+    this.meta = unmodifiableMap(meta);
+    this.metaStruct = metaStruct == null ? emptyMap() : unmodifiableMap(metaStruct);
+    this.metrics = unmodifiableMap(metrics);
     this.type = type;
   }