diff --git a/app/models/document.rb b/app/models/document.rb
index 1cbccf045..bf99db0ef 100644
--- a/app/models/document.rb
+++ b/app/models/document.rb
@@ -401,13 +401,13 @@ def set_nested_facet_attributes(attrs)
       nested_facet_values = param_value(attrs, nested_facet["key"])
       main_facet_value = []
       sub_facet_value = []
-      nested_facet_values.each do |main_and_sub_tuple|
+      nested_facet_values&.each do |main_and_sub_tuple|
         parsed_tuple = JSON.parse(main_and_sub_tuple)
         main_facet_value << parsed_tuple["main_facet_value"]
         sub_facet_value << parsed_tuple["sub_facet_value"]
       end
-      public_send(:"#{clean_key(nested_facet['key'].to_s)}=", main_facet_value.uniq)
-      public_send(:"#{clean_key(nested_facet['sub_facet_key']&.to_s)}=", sub_facet_value.uniq)
+      public_send(:"#{clean_key(nested_facet['key'].to_s)}=", main_facet_value.uniq) if main_facet_value.any?
+      public_send(:"#{clean_key(nested_facet['sub_facet_key']&.to_s)}=", sub_facet_value.uniq) if sub_facet_value.any?
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/models/document_spec.rb b/spec/models/document_spec.rb
index 7aba7d7f9..881d1ca0e 100644
--- a/spec/models/document_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/document_spec.rb
@@ -526,6 +526,10 @@ def initialize(params = {})
     describe "validations" do
       subject { Document.from_publishing_api(payload) }
 
+      before do
+        allow(FinderSchema).to receive(:load_from_schema)
+      end
+
       context "when the document is a draft" do
         let(:payload) { FactoryBot.create(:document) }
 
@@ -626,6 +630,8 @@ def initialize(params = {})
 
     describe "when called on a class that mismatches the document_type" do
       it "raises a helpful error" do
+        allow(FinderSchema).to receive(:load_from_schema).and_return(finder_schema)
+
         expect {
           CmaCase.find(document.content_id, document.locale)
         }.to raise_error(/wrong type/)
@@ -636,6 +642,10 @@ def initialize(params = {})
   describe "attachment methods" do
     let(:attachment) { Attachment.new }
 
+    before do
+      allow(FinderSchema).to receive(:load_from_schema)
+    end
+
     describe "#attachments=" do
       it "creates an AttachmentCollection with the given attachments" do
         subject.attachments = [attachment]
@@ -691,7 +701,10 @@ def initialize(params = {})
   end
 
   describe "#set_temporary_update_type!" do
-    before { subject.publication_state = "published" }
+    before do
+      allow(FinderSchema).to receive(:load_from_schema)
+      subject.publication_state = "published"
+    end
 
     context "when the document has an update_type" do
       before do