diff --git a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/common/util/JsonRecordReader.java b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/common/util/JsonRecordReader.java
index 7f93bc4691a..f66c88e4118 100644
--- a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/common/util/JsonRecordReader.java
+++ b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/common/util/JsonRecordReader.java
@@ -348,12 +348,17 @@ public class JsonRecordReader {
           } else if (event == ARRAY_START) {
             for (; ; ) {
               event = parser.nextEvent();
-              if (event == ARRAY_END) break;
-              if (event == OBJECT_START) {
-                // if single item in array will still be added as array
-                if(!values.containsKey(name)) {
-                  values.put(name, new ArrayList<>());
+              if (event == ARRAY_END) {
+                // ensure that the value is of type List
+                final Object val = values.get(name);
+                if (val != null && !(val instanceof List)) {
+                  final ArrayList listVal = new ArrayList(1);
+                  listVal.add(val);
+                  values.put(name, listVal);
                 }
+                break;
+              }
+              if (event == OBJECT_START) {
                 walkObject();
               }
             }
@@ -437,7 +442,6 @@ public class JsonRecordReader {
           for (String fld : valuesAddedinThisFrame) {
             values.remove(fld);
           }
-          values.remove(null);
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/solr/solrj/src/test/org/apache/solr/common/util/TestJsonRecordReader.java b/solr/solrj/src/test/org/apache/solr/common/util/TestJsonRecordReader.java
index da75a43cf15..9b109707d53 100644
--- a/solr/solrj/src/test/org/apache/solr/common/util/TestJsonRecordReader.java
+++ b/solr/solrj/src/test/org/apache/solr/common/util/TestJsonRecordReader.java
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ package org.apache.solr.common.util;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.StringReader;
-import java.lang.invoke.MethodHandles;
 import java.lang.ref.WeakReference;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -29,12 +28,9 @@ import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.solr.SolrTestCaseJ4;
 import org.apache.solr.util.RecordingJSONParser;
-import org.slf4j.Logger;
-import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 
 public class TestJsonRecordReader extends SolrTestCaseJ4 {
-  private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(MethodHandles.lookup().lookupClass());
 
   public void testOneLevelSplit() throws IOException {
     String json = "{\n" +
@@ -281,7 +277,7 @@ public class TestJsonRecordReader extends SolrTestCaseJ4 {
     JsonRecordReader streamer = JsonRecordReader.getInst("/|/a/b", Arrays.asList("/a/x", "/a/b/*"));
     streamer.streamRecords(new StringReader(json), (record, path) -> {
       assertEquals(record.get("x"), "y");
-      assertEquals(((Map) record.get(null)).get("c"), "d");
+      assertEquals(((Map) record.get("b")).get("c"), "d");
     });
     json = "{a:{" +
         "b:[{c:c1, e:e1},{c:c2, e :e2, d:{p:q}}]," +
@@ -289,7 +285,7 @@ public class TestJsonRecordReader extends SolrTestCaseJ4 {
         "}}";
     streamer.streamRecords(new StringReader(json), (record, path) -> {
       assertEquals(record.get("x"), "y");
-      List l = (List) record.get(null);
+      List l = (List) record.get("b");
       Map m = (Map) l.get(0);
       assertEquals(m.get("c"), "c1");
       assertEquals(m.get("e"), "e1");
@@ -300,7 +296,7 @@ public class TestJsonRecordReader extends SolrTestCaseJ4 {
     streamer = JsonRecordReader.getInst("/|/a/b", Arrays.asList("$FQN:/**"));
     streamer.streamRecords(new StringReader(json), (record, path) -> {
       assertEquals(record.get("a.x"), "y");
-      List l = (List) record.get(null);
+      List l = (List) record.get("b");
       Map m = (Map) l.get(0);
       assertEquals(m.get("c"), "c1");
       assertEquals(m.get("e"), "e1");