diff --git a/src/handlers/events-query.ts b/src/handlers/events-query.ts
index 2b8485758..c011edb3b 100644
--- a/src/handlers/events-query.ts
+++ b/src/handlers/events-query.ts
@@ -32,10 +32,8 @@ export class EventsQueryHandler implements MethodHandler {
       return messageReplyFromError(e, 401);
     }
 
-    // if no filter is present in the the `EventsQuery` descriptor, we pass an empty array of filters to the `queryEvents` method
-    // this will return all events in the event log for the given tenant beyond the cursor provided.
-    // if no cursor is provided, it will return all events
-    const eventFilters = message.descriptor.filters ? Events.convertFilters(message.descriptor.filters) : [];
+    // an empty array of filters means no filtering and all events are returned
+    const eventFilters = Events.convertFilters(message.descriptor.filters);
     const { events, cursor } = await this.eventLog.queryEvents(tenant, eventFilters, message.descriptor.cursor);
 
     return {
diff --git a/src/interfaces/events-query.ts b/src/interfaces/events-query.ts
index b29a76d35..1df3f7cc5 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/events-query.ts
+++ b/src/interfaces/events-query.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export class EventsQuery extends AbstractMessage<EventsQueryMessage>{
     Message.validateJsonSchema(message);
     await Message.validateSignatureStructure(message.authorization.signature, message.descriptor);
 
-    for (const filter of message.descriptor.filters || []) {
+    for (const filter of message.descriptor.filters) {
       if ('protocol' in filter && filter.protocol !== undefined) {
         validateProtocolUrlNormalized(filter.protocol);
       }