diff --git a/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/data/database/models/MangaImpl.kt b/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/data/database/models/MangaImpl.kt
index 63cccb151e..df0342a5d0 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/data/database/models/MangaImpl.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/data/database/models/MangaImpl.kt
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ open class MangaImpl : Manga {
 
     override var update_strategy: UpdateStrategy = UpdateStrategy.ALWAYS_UPDATE
 
-    override var filtered_scanlators: String? = null
+    // TODO: It's probably fine to set this to non-null string in the future
+    override var filtered_scanlators: String? = ""
 
     override lateinit var ogTitle: String
     override var ogAuthor: String? = null
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/chapter/ChapterSourceSync.kt b/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/chapter/ChapterSourceSync.kt
index 70649923e4..3930be9bb8 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/chapter/ChapterSourceSync.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/chapter/ChapterSourceSync.kt
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ suspend fun syncChaptersWithSource(
 }
 
 private fun List<Chapter>.filterChaptersByScanlators(manga: Manga): List<Chapter> {
-    if (manga.filtered_scanlators == null) return this
+    if (manga.filtered_scanlators.isNullOrBlank()) return this
 
     return this.filter { chapter ->
         !ChapterUtil.getScanlators(manga.filtered_scanlators).contains(chapter.scanlator)
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/chapter/ChapterUtil.kt b/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/chapter/ChapterUtil.kt
index 113ea0caea..e1176d7f57 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/chapter/ChapterUtil.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/chapter/ChapterUtil.kt
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ class ChapterUtil {
         }
 
         fun getScanlatorString(scanlators: Set<String>): String {
+            if (scanlators.isEmpty()) return ""
             return scanlators.toList().sorted().joinToString(scanlatorSeparator)
         }
 
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/manga/MangaUtil.kt b/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/manga/MangaUtil.kt
index 2c76f65819..8516e90567 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/manga/MangaUtil.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/eu/kanade/tachiyomi/util/manga/MangaUtil.kt
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ object MangaUtil {
     suspend fun setScanlatorFilter(updateManga: UpdateManga, manga: Manga, filteredScanlators: Set<String>) {
         if (manga.id == null) return
 
-        manga.filtered_scanlators =
-            if (filteredScanlators.isEmpty()) null else ChapterUtil.getScanlatorString(filteredScanlators)
+        manga.filtered_scanlators = ChapterUtil.getScanlatorString(filteredScanlators)
 
         updateManga.await(MangaUpdate(manga.id!!, filteredScanlators = manga.filtered_scanlators))
     }