diff --git a/apis/v1beta1/config.go b/apis/v1beta1/config.go
index 61fecb3ad1..4eab8d485d 100644
--- a/apis/v1beta1/config.go
+++ b/apis/v1beta1/config.go
@@ -90,7 +90,22 @@ func (c *AnyConfig) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	if c == nil {
 		return []byte("{}"), nil
 	}
-	return json.Marshal(c.Object)
+	return json.Marshal(c.convertNilToEmptyMap(c.Object))
+}
+
+func (c *AnyConfig) convertNilToEmptyMap(m map[string]interface{}) map[string]interface{} {
+	result := make(map[string]interface{})
+	for k, v := range m {
+		switch val := v.(type) {
+		case nil:
+			result[k] = map[string]interface{}{}
+		case map[string]interface{}:
+			result[k] = c.convertNilToEmptyMap(val)
+		default:
+			result[k] = v
+		}
+	}
+	return result
 }
 
 // Pipeline is a struct of component type to a list of component IDs.