diff --git a/src/core/providers/ogr/qgsogrprovider.cpp b/src/core/providers/ogr/qgsogrprovider.cpp
index 9605b5f4df8c..c48ca64116ab 100644
--- a/src/core/providers/ogr/qgsogrprovider.cpp
+++ b/src/core/providers/ogr/qgsogrprovider.cpp
@@ -1433,10 +1433,10 @@ void QgsOgrProvider::loadMetadata()
     OGRLayerH layer = mOgrOrigLayer->getHandleAndMutex( mutex );
     QMutexLocker locker( mutex );
 
-    const QString identifier = GDALGetMetadataItem( layer, "IDENTIFIER", nullptr );
+    const QString identifier = GDALGetMetadataItem( layer, "IDENTIFIER", "" );
     if ( !identifier.isEmpty() )
       mLayerMetadata.setTitle( identifier ); // see geopackage specs -- "'identifier' is analogous to 'title'"
-    const QString abstract = GDALGetMetadataItem( layer, "DESCRIPTION", nullptr );
+    const QString abstract = GDALGetMetadataItem( layer, "DESCRIPTION", "" );
     if ( !abstract.isEmpty() )
       mLayerMetadata.setAbstract( abstract );