diff --git a/azurerm/helpers/azure/app_insights.go b/azurerm/helpers/azure/app_insights.go
index 3cc7833d77ccd..7f684d80dd55f 100644
--- a/azurerm/helpers/azure/app_insights.go
+++ b/azurerm/helpers/azure/app_insights.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ func ExpandApplicationInsightsAPIKeyLinkedProperties(v *schema.Set, appInsightsI
 
 func FlattenApplicationInsightsAPIKeyLinkedProperties(props *[]string) *[]string {
 	if props == nil {
-		return nil
+		return &[]string{}
 	}
 
 	result := make([]string, len(*props))