diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/collection.ts b/src/runtime/internal/collection.ts
index 5f1e4ec93..7aa98fe94 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/collection.ts
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/collection.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,31 @@
 import type { CollectionInfo } from '@nuxt/content'
 import contentManifest from '#content/manifest'
 
+/**
+ * Refine raw fields from D1/SQLite query results into their proper JS types.
+ * Handles JSON parsing, boolean coercion (preserving null for absent fields),
+ * and removes empty JSON objects that arise from D1 column defaults.
+ */
 export function refineContentFields<T>(sql: string, doc: T) {
   const fields = findCollectionFields(sql)
   const item = { ...doc } as T
   for (const key in item) {
     if (fields[key as string] === 'json' && item[key] && item[key] !== 'undefined') {
-      item[key] = JSON.parse(item[key] as string)
+      const parsed = JSON.parse(item[key] as string)
+      if (key !== 'meta' && parsed && typeof parsed === 'object' && !Array.isArray(parsed) && Object.keys(parsed).length === 0) {
+        Reflect.deleteProperty(item as object, key)
+      }
+      else {
+        item[key] = parsed
+      }
     }
     if (fields[key as string] === 'boolean' && item[key] !== 'undefined') {
-      item[key] = Boolean(item[key]) as never
+      if (item[key] == null) {
+        Reflect.deleteProperty(item as object, key)
+      }
+      else {
+        item[key] = Boolean(item[key]) as never
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -21,6 +37,7 @@ export function refineContentFields<T>(sql: string, doc: T) {
   return item
 }
 
+/** Extract the field type map for the collection referenced in the SQL query. */
 function findCollectionFields(sql: string): Record<string, 'string' | 'number' | 'boolean' | 'date' | 'json'> {
   const table = sql.match(/FROM\s+(\w+)/)
   if (!table) {
@@ -31,6 +48,7 @@ function findCollectionFields(sql: string): Record<string, 'string' | 'number' |
   return info?.fields || {}
 }
 
+/** Strip the `_content_` prefix from a D1 table name to get the collection name. */
 function getCollectionName(table: string) {
   return table.replace(/^_content_/, '')
 }