diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index 265310f89..7de80cb43 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -1264,7 +1264,7 @@ function generateBaseInstanceFactory(
     let val;
 
     if (keyValuePair) {
-      val = '""';
+      val = defaultValue(ctx, { ...field, label: FieldDescriptorProto_Label.LABEL_REQUIRED });
     } else if (isWithinOneOf(field)) {
       val = nullOrUndefined(options);
     } else if (isMapType(ctx, messageDesc, field)) {
@@ -2759,7 +2759,7 @@ function generateFromPartial(ctx: Context, fullName: string, messageDesc: Descri
       let fallback 
 
       if (keyValuePair) {
-        fallback = '""'
+        fallback = defaultValue(ctx, { ...field, label: FieldDescriptorProto_Label.LABEL_REQUIRED })
       } else {
         fallback = isWithinOneOf(field) || noDefaultValue ? "undefined" : defaultValue(ctx, field);
       }
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 8d8abb206..0ab684bb3 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -479,11 +479,9 @@ export function isKeyValuePair(fields: FieldDescriptorProto[]) {
   return fields.length === 2 &&
     fields[0].name === "key" &&
     fields[0].number === 1 &&
-    fields[0].type === FieldDescriptorProto_Type.TYPE_STRING &&
     fields[0].label === FieldDescriptorProto_Label.LABEL_OPTIONAL &&
     fields[1].name === "value" &&
     fields[1].number === 2 &&
-    fields[1].type === FieldDescriptorProto_Type.TYPE_STRING &&
     fields[1].label === FieldDescriptorProto_Label.LABEL_OPTIONAL;
 }