diff --git a/syft/formats/common/cyclonedxhelpers/component_test.go b/syft/formats/common/cyclonedxhelpers/component_test.go
index 1353c33c467..d1f7835ae3c 100644
--- a/syft/formats/common/cyclonedxhelpers/component_test.go
+++ b/syft/formats/common/cyclonedxhelpers/component_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package cyclonedxhelpers
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/CycloneDX/cyclonedx-go"
@@ -200,6 +201,7 @@ func Test_decodeComponent(t *testing.T) {
 		component        cyclonedx.Component
 		wantLanguage     pkg.Language
 		wantMetadataType pkg.MetadataType
+		wantMetadata     interface{}
 	}{
 		{
 			name: "derive language from pURL if missing",
@@ -213,7 +215,7 @@ func Test_decodeComponent(t *testing.T) {
 			wantLanguage: pkg.Java,
 		},
 		{
-			name: "handle existing RpmdbMetadata type",
+			name: "handle RpmdbMetadata type without properties",
 			component: cyclonedx.Component{
 				Name:       "acl",
 				Version:    "2.2.53-1.el8",
@@ -228,6 +230,31 @@ func Test_decodeComponent(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 			wantMetadataType: pkg.RpmMetadataType,
+			wantMetadata:     pkg.RpmMetadata{},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "handle RpmdbMetadata type with properties",
+			component: cyclonedx.Component{
+				Name:       "acl",
+				Version:    "2.2.53-1.el8",
+				PackageURL: "pkg:rpm/centos/acl@2.2.53-1.el8?arch=x86_64&upstream=acl-2.2.53-1.el8.src.rpm&distro=centos-8",
+				Type:       "library",
+				BOMRef:     "pkg:rpm/centos/acl@2.2.53-1.el8?arch=x86_64&upstream=acl-2.2.53-1.el8.src.rpm&distro=centos-8",
+				Properties: &[]cyclonedx.Property{
+					{
+						Name:  "syft:package:metadataType",
+						Value: "RpmMetadata",
+					},
+					{
+						Name:  "syft:metadata:release",
+						Value: "some-release",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			wantMetadataType: pkg.RpmMetadataType,
+			wantMetadata: pkg.RpmMetadata{
+				Release: "some-release",
+			},
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -240,6 +267,9 @@ func Test_decodeComponent(t *testing.T) {
 			if tt.wantMetadataType != "" {
 				assert.Equal(t, tt.wantMetadataType, p.MetadataType)
 			}
+			if tt.wantMetadata != nil {
+				assert.Truef(t, reflect.DeepEqual(tt.wantMetadata, p.Metadata), "metadata should match: %+v != %+v", tt.wantMetadata, p.Metadata)
+			}
 		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/syft/formats/common/property_encoder.go b/syft/formats/common/property_encoder.go
index 9db409425cd..e22772db0eb 100644
--- a/syft/formats/common/property_encoder.go
+++ b/syft/formats/common/property_encoder.go
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ func decode(vals map[string]string, value reflect.Value, prefix string, fn Field
 
 func PtrToStruct(ptr interface{}) interface{} {
 	v := reflect.ValueOf(ptr)
-	if v.IsZero() {
+	if v.IsZero() && v.Type().Kind() != reflect.Struct {
 		return nil
 	}
 	switch v.Type().Kind() {
diff --git a/syft/formats/syftjson/model/package.go b/syft/formats/syftjson/model/package.go
index 67d9cc8b84b..4567a139aeb 100644
--- a/syft/formats/syftjson/model/package.go
+++ b/syft/formats/syftjson/model/package.go
@@ -78,8 +78,10 @@ func unpackMetadata(p *Package, unpacker packageMetadataUnpacker) error {
 	typ, ok := pkg.MetadataTypeByName[p.MetadataType]
 	if ok {
 		val := reflect.New(typ).Interface()
-		if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Metadata, val); err != nil {
-			return err
+		if len(unpacker.Metadata) > 0 {
+			if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Metadata, val); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 		}
 		p.Metadata = reflect.ValueOf(val).Elem().Interface()
 		return nil
diff --git a/syft/formats/syftjson/model/package_test.go b/syft/formats/syftjson/model/package_test.go
index eb57dbbc0da..34677b20bf2 100644
--- a/syft/formats/syftjson/model/package_test.go
+++ b/syft/formats/syftjson/model/package_test.go
@@ -212,6 +212,37 @@ func Test_unpackMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 				"thing": "thing-1",
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "can handle package with metadata type but missing metadata",
+			packageData: []byte(`{
+				"metadataType": "GolangBinMetadata"
+			}`),
+			metadataType: pkg.GolangBinMetadataType,
+			wantMetadata: pkg.GolangBinMetadata{},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "can handle package with unknonwn metadata type and missing metadata",
+			packageData: []byte(`{
+				"metadataType": "BadMetadata"
+			}`),
+			wantErr:      require.Error,
+			metadataType: "BadMetadata",
+			wantMetadata: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "can handle package with unknonwn metadata type and metadata",
+			packageData: []byte(`{
+				"metadataType": "BadMetadata",
+				"metadata": {
+					"random": "thing"
+				}
+			}`),
+			wantErr:      require.Error,
+			metadataType: "BadMetadata",
+			wantMetadata: map[string]interface{}{
+				"random": "thing",
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {