diff --git a/basyx.submodelrepository/basyx.submodelrepository-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/digitaltwin/basyx/submodelrepository/client/internal/SubmodelRepositoryApi.java b/basyx.submodelrepository/basyx.submodelrepository-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/digitaltwin/basyx/submodelrepository/client/internal/SubmodelRepositoryApi.java
index 07b0466fc..c82cadd29 100644
--- a/basyx.submodelrepository/basyx.submodelrepository-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/digitaltwin/basyx/submodelrepository/client/internal/SubmodelRepositoryApi.java
+++ b/basyx.submodelrepository/basyx.submodelrepository-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/digitaltwin/basyx/submodelrepository/client/internal/SubmodelRepositoryApi.java
@@ -301,10 +301,10 @@ public ApiResponse<Submodel> getSubmodelByIdMetadataWithHttpInfoNoUrlEncoding(St
 				Submodel deserializedSubmodel = localVarResponse.body() == null ? null : memberVarObjectMapper.readValue(localVarResponse.body(), new TypeReference<Submodel>() {
 				});
 
-				if (deserializedSubmodel != null && deserializedSubmodel.getSubmodelElements() == null)
-					deserializedSubmodel.setSubmodelElements(Collections.emptyList());
+				if (deserializedSubmodel != null && deserializedSubmodel.getSubmodelElements() != null && deserializedSubmodel.getSubmodelElements().isEmpty())
+					deserializedSubmodel.setSubmodelElements(null);
 
-				return new ApiResponse<Submodel>(localVarResponse.statusCode(), localVarResponse.headers().map(), deserializedSubmodel);
+				return new ApiResponse<>(localVarResponse.statusCode(), localVarResponse.headers().map(), deserializedSubmodel);
 			} finally {
 			}
 		} catch (IOException e) {