diff --git a/api/traces/v1/trace_rbac.go b/api/traces/v1/trace_rbac.go
index 2554446c0..789e89f2e 100644
--- a/api/traces/v1/trace_rbac.go
+++ b/api/traces/v1/trace_rbac.go
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/go-kit/log"
 	"github.com/go-kit/log/level"
-	"github.com/golang/protobuf/jsonpb" // nolint:staticcheck
-	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"  //nolint:staticcheck
+	"github.com/gogo/protobuf/jsonpb"
+	"github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
 	"github.com/grafana/tempo/pkg/tempopb"
 	commonv1 "github.com/grafana/tempo/pkg/tempopb/common/v1"
 	tracev1 "github.com/grafana/tempo/pkg/tempopb/trace/v1"
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ func WithTraceQLNamespaceSelectAndForbidOtherAPIs(enabled bool) func(http.Handle
 	}
 }
 
+// unmarshal and marshal use github.com/gogo/protobuf/jsonpb for the JSON
+// path, since golang/protobuf/jsonpb drops empty repeated fields on
+// round-trip for these gogo-generated tempopb types (TRACING-6841).
 func unmarshal(response *http.Response, body []byte, pb proto.Message) error {
 	switch response.Header.Get(HeaderContentType) {
 	case ContentTypeProtobuf:
@@ -163,6 +166,11 @@ func responseRBACModifier(log log.Logger) func(response *http.Response) error {
 					}
 
 				case routeQueryV2.MatchString(request.URL.Path):
+					// unlike routeQueryV1 above, this path can use the shared
+					// unmarshal/marshal helpers directly: TraceByIDResponse
+					// wraps a *Trace plus Metrics/Status/Message fields, and
+					// (with the gogo/protobuf/jsonpb switch above) round-trips
+					// correctly without needing the JSONV1 special-casing.
 					traceByIDResponse := &tempopb.TraceByIDResponse{}
 					err = unmarshal(response, b, traceByIDResponse)
 					if err != nil {
diff --git a/api/traces/v1/trace_rbac_test.go b/api/traces/v1/trace_rbac_test.go
index a277b5bea..e86085b24 100644
--- a/api/traces/v1/trace_rbac_test.go
+++ b/api/traces/v1/trace_rbac_test.go
@@ -546,6 +546,42 @@ func TestRBACSearchResult(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestSearchResponseEmptyTracesPreserved is a regression test for TRACING-6841:
+// a zero-result Tempo search response must round-trip through the JSON
+// unmarshal/marshal cycle with "traces": [] intact, not silently dropped.
+func TestSearchResponseEmptyTracesPreserved(t *testing.T) {
+	resp := &http.Response{Header: http.Header{}}
+
+	searchResponse := &tempopb.SearchResponse{}
+	in := []byte(`{"traces":[]}`)
+	require.NoError(t, unmarshal(resp, in, searchResponse))
+	require.NotNil(t, searchResponse.Traces, "an explicit empty traces array must not collapse to nil on unmarshal")
+
+	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	require.NoError(t, marshal(resp, buf, searchResponse))
+	assert.JSONEq(t, `{"traces":[]}`, buf.String())
+}
+
+// TestTraceByIDResponseEmptyResourceSpansPreserved is the routeQueryV2
+// counterpart to TestSearchResponseEmptyTracesPreserved: TraceByIDResponse is
+// also gogo/protobuf-generated, and its embedded Trace.ResourceSpans is a
+// repeated field subject to the exact same golang/protobuf/jsonpb round-trip
+// bug (see the comment on unmarshal/marshal). Before this fix, unmarshal/
+// marshal used github.com/golang/protobuf/jsonpb for this type too.
+func TestTraceByIDResponseEmptyResourceSpansPreserved(t *testing.T) {
+	resp := &http.Response{Header: http.Header{}}
+
+	traceByIDResponse := &tempopb.TraceByIDResponse{}
+	in := []byte(`{"trace":{"resourceSpans":[]}}`)
+	require.NoError(t, unmarshal(resp, in, traceByIDResponse))
+	require.NotNil(t, traceByIDResponse.Trace, "trace field must be present")
+	require.NotNil(t, traceByIDResponse.Trace.ResourceSpans, "an explicit empty resourceSpans array must not collapse to nil on unmarshal")
+
+	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	require.NoError(t, marshal(resp, buf, traceByIDResponse))
+	assert.JSONEq(t, `{"trace":{"resourceSpans":[]}}`, buf.String())
+}
+
 func contextWithAllowedNamespaces(t *testing.T, namespaces []string) context.Context {
 	t.Helper()
 	data := fmt.Sprintf(`{"matchers":[{"name":"namespace","value":"%s","type":1}]}`, url.QueryEscape(strings.Join(namespaces, "|")))
@@ -702,7 +738,9 @@ func TestResponseRBACModifier(t *testing.T) {
           ]
         },
         "scopeSpans": [
-          {"scope": {}, "spans": [{}]}
+          {"scope": {"attributes": []}, "spans": [
+            {"attributes": [], "events": []}
+          ]}
         ]
       }
     ]
@@ -756,6 +794,23 @@ func TestResponseRBACModifier(t *testing.T) {
 }`, string(body))
 	})
 
+	t.Run("search endpoint with zero results keeps traces as an empty array", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// TRACING-6841: a zero-result Tempo search response must not lose its
+		// "traces" key while passing through RBAC filtering.
+		resp := makeResponse(ctx, http.StatusOK, "/api/search", `{
+  "traces": [],
+  "metrics": {"inspectedBytes": "254867"}
+}`, nil)
+
+		require.NoError(t, modifier(resp))
+
+		body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+		assert.JSONEq(t, `{
+  "traces": [],
+  "metrics": {"inspectedBytes": "254867"}
+}`, string(body))
+	})
+
 	t.Run("search tag values endpoint is not modified", func(t *testing.T) {
 		resp := makeResponse(ctx, http.StatusOK, "/api/v2/search/tag/resource.service.name/values", `{
   "tagValues": [
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 174f9ebaf..d16858ee1 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/go-kit/log v0.2.1
 	github.com/go-openapi/runtime v0.33.0
 	github.com/go-openapi/strfmt v0.27.0
+	github.com/gogo/protobuf v1.3.2
 	github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v4 v4.5.2
 	github.com/golang/protobuf v1.5.4
 	github.com/gorilla/websocket v1.5.4-0.20250319132907-e064f32e3674
@@ -94,7 +95,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/go-viper/mapstructure/v2 v2.5.0 // indirect
 	github.com/gobwas/glob v0.2.3 // indirect
 	github.com/goccy/go-json v0.10.6 // indirect
-	github.com/gogo/protobuf v1.3.2 // indirect
 	github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5 v5.3.1 // indirect
 	github.com/google/gnostic-models v0.7.0 // indirect
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0 // indirect