diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b982428bc..795ac7b20 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+## neptune-client 0.16.15
+
+### Fixes
+- Correct detection of missing attributes ([#1155](https://github.com/neptune-ai/neptune-client/pull/1155))
+
 ## neptune-client 0.16.14
 
 ### Features
diff --git a/src/neptune/new/handler.py b/src/neptune/new/handler.py
index 0f89ab93c..7cf6689a4 100644
--- a/src/neptune/new/handler.py
+++ b/src/neptune/new/handler.py
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ def assign(self, value, wait: bool = False) -> None:
         """
         with self._container.lock():
             attr = self._container.get_attribute(self._path)
-            if not attr:
+            if attr is None:
                 self._container.define(self._path, value)
             else:
                 if isinstance(value, Handler):
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ def upload(self, value, wait: bool = False) -> None:
 
         with self._container.lock():
             attr = self._container.get_attribute(self._path)
-            if not attr:
+            if attr is None:
                 attr = File(self._container, parse_path(self._path))
                 self._container.set_attribute(self._path, attr)
             attr.upload(value, wait)
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ def upload_files(self, value: Union[str, Iterable[str]], wait: bool = False) ->
 
         with self._container.lock():
             attr = self._container.get_attribute(self._path)
-            if not attr:
+            if attr is None:
                 attr = FileSet(self._container, parse_path(self._path))
                 self._container.set_attribute(self._path, attr)
             attr.upload_files(value, wait)
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ def log(
 
         with self._container.lock():
             attr = self._container.get_attribute(self._path)
-            if not attr:
+            if attr is None:
                 if is_collection(value):
                     if value:
                         first_value = next(iter(value))
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ def extend(
 
         with self._container.lock():
             attr = self._container.get_attribute(self._path)
-            if not attr:
+            if attr is None:
                 neptune_value = cast_value_for_extend(values)
                 attr = ValueToAttributeVisitor(self._container, parse_path(self._path)).visit(neptune_value)
                 self._container.set_attribute(self._path, attr)
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ def add(self, values: Union[str, Iterable[str]], wait: bool = False) -> None:
         verify_type("values", values, (str, Iterable))
         with self._container.lock():
             attr = self._container.get_attribute(self._path)
-            if not attr:
+            if attr is None:
                 attr = StringSet(self._container, parse_path(self._path))
                 self._container.set_attribute(self._path, attr)
             attr.add(values, wait)
@@ -623,7 +623,7 @@ def track_files(self, path: str, destination: str = None, wait: bool = False) ->
         """
         with self._container.lock():
             attr = self._container.get_attribute(self._path)
-            if not attr:
+            if attr is None:
                 attr = Artifact(self._container, parse_path(self._path))
                 self._container.set_attribute(self._path, attr)
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/neptune/new/test_experiment.py b/tests/unit/neptune/new/test_experiment.py
index 995fa556e..6406acc4b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/neptune/new/test_experiment.py
+++ b/tests/unit/neptune/new/test_experiment.py
@@ -102,6 +102,13 @@ def test_define_conflict(self):
                 with self.assertRaises(MetadataInconsistency):
                     exp.define("some/path/value", Float(1))
 
+    def test_define_conflict_with_empty_namespace(self):
+        for exp in self.get_experiments(flush_period=0.5):
+            with self.subTest(msg=f"For type {exp.container_type}"):
+                exp.define("some/path/value", {})
+                with self.assertRaises(MetadataInconsistency):
+                    exp.define("some/path/value", {})
+
     def test_pop(self):
         for exp in self.get_experiments(flush_period=0.5):
             with self.subTest(msg=f"For type {exp.container_type}"):
diff --git a/tests/unit/neptune/new/test_handler.py b/tests/unit/neptune/new/test_handler.py
index c0ef0e9ad..66d3ccca2 100644
--- a/tests/unit/neptune/new/test_handler.py
+++ b/tests/unit/neptune/new/test_handler.py
@@ -491,6 +491,12 @@ def test_assign_dict(self):
             self.assertEqual(exp["params/toys"].fetch_last(), "hat")
             self.assertEqual(exp["params/nested/nested/deep_secret"].fetch_last(), 15)
 
+    def test_assign_empty_dict(self):
+        with init_run(mode="debug", flush_period=0.5) as exp:
+            exp["params"] = {}
+            exp["params"] = {"foo": 5}
+            self.assertEqual(exp["params/foo"].fetch(), 5)
+
     def test_argparse_namespace(self):
         with init_run(mode="debug", flush_period=0.5) as exp:
             exp["params"] = argparse.Namespace(