diff --git a/view-creator-framework/src/main/java/org/hypertrace/core/viewcreator/pinot/PinotUtils.java b/view-creator-framework/src/main/java/org/hypertrace/core/viewcreator/pinot/PinotUtils.java
index 0aff7f8..11f001c 100644
--- a/view-creator-framework/src/main/java/org/hypertrace/core/viewcreator/pinot/PinotUtils.java
+++ b/view-creator-framework/src/main/java/org/hypertrace/core/viewcreator/pinot/PinotUtils.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileWriter;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -154,15 +155,18 @@ public static Schema convertAvroSchemaToPinotSchema(org.apache.avro.Schema avroS
 
       for (FieldSpec convertedSpec : fieldSpecs) {
         if (convertedSpec != null) {
-          Object defaultVal;
+          Object defaultVal = field.defaultVal();
+          // Replace the avro generated defaults in certain cases
           if (field.schema().getType().equals(Type.MAP)) {
-            // we need to set it empty string instead of the default map because it's being split
-            // to 2 different string
+            // A map is split into two multivalued string cols, use an empty string default for each
+            // TODO - why not use null and let pinot decide?
             defaultVal = "";
-          } else {
-            defaultVal = field.defaultVal();
-          }
-          if (defaultVal == JsonProperties.NULL_VALUE) {
+          } else if (defaultVal == JsonProperties.NULL_VALUE) {
+            defaultVal = null;
+          } else if (!AvroUtils.isSingleValueField(field)
+              && defaultVal instanceof Collection
+              && ((Collection<?>) defaultVal).isEmpty()) {
+            // Convert an empty collection into a null for a multivalued col
             defaultVal = null;
           }
           if (defaultVal != null) {
diff --git a/view-creator-framework/src/test/java/org/hypertrace/core/viewcreator/pinot/PinotUtilsTest.java b/view-creator-framework/src/test/java/org/hypertrace/core/viewcreator/pinot/PinotUtilsTest.java
index f535b97..5ac8ff6 100644
--- a/view-creator-framework/src/test/java/org/hypertrace/core/viewcreator/pinot/PinotUtilsTest.java
+++ b/view-creator-framework/src/test/java/org/hypertrace/core/viewcreator/pinot/PinotUtilsTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package org.hypertrace.core.viewcreator.pinot;
 
+import static org.apache.pinot.spi.data.FieldSpec.DEFAULT_DIMENSION_NULL_VALUE_OF_STRING;
+
 import com.typesafe.config.ConfigFactory;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -42,7 +44,10 @@ public void testCreatePinotSchemaForView() {
         pinotSchemaForView.getDimensionSpec("properties__VALUES").getDataType());
     Assertions.assertEquals("",
         pinotSchemaForView.getDimensionSpec("properties__KEYS").getDefaultNullValue());
-
+    Assertions.assertEquals(DEFAULT_DIMENSION_NULL_VALUE_OF_STRING, pinotSchemaForView.getDimensionSpec("name")
+                                            .getDefaultNullValue());
+    Assertions.assertEquals(DEFAULT_DIMENSION_NULL_VALUE_OF_STRING, pinotSchemaForView.getDimensionSpec("friends")
+                                            .getDefaultNullValue());
     // metric fields are not part of dimension columns
     Assertions.assertEquals("time_taken_millis", pinotSchemaForView.getMetricFieldSpecs().get(0).getName());
     Assertions.assertEquals(DataType.LONG, pinotSchemaForView.getMetricFieldSpecs().get(0).getDataType());