diff --git a/connector/protobuf/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/protobuf/ProtobufCatalystDataConversionSuite.scala b/connector/protobuf/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/protobuf/ProtobufCatalystDataConversionSuite.scala
index 3e9273835e3d..904827174e56 100644
--- a/connector/protobuf/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/protobuf/ProtobufCatalystDataConversionSuite.scala
+++ b/connector/protobuf/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/protobuf/ProtobufCatalystDataConversionSuite.scala
@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@ class ProtobufCatalystDataConversionSuite
       while (
         data != null &&
         (data.get(0) == defaultValue ||
-          (dt == BinaryType &&
+          (dt.fields(0).dataType == BinaryType &&
+            data.get(0) != null &&
             data.get(0).asInstanceOf[Array[Byte]].isEmpty)))
         data = generator().asInstanceOf[Row]