diff --git a/src-tauri/src/lyricsfile.rs b/src-tauri/src/lyricsfile.rs
index cbecd15..24f499f 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/lyricsfile.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/lyricsfile.rs
@@ -92,10 +92,19 @@ struct LyricsfileWord {
     end_ms: Option<i64>,
 }
 
+fn null_as_default<'de, D, T>(deserializer: D) -> Result<T, D::Error>
+where
+    D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+    T: Default + serde::Deserialize<'de>,
+{
+    let opt = Option::<T>::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+    Ok(opt.unwrap_or_default())
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
 struct ParsedLyricsfileDocument {
     metadata: ParsedLyricsfileMetadata,
-    #[serde(default)]
+    #[serde(default, deserialize_with = "null_as_default")]
     lines: Vec<LyricsfileLine>,
     plain: Option<String>,
 }
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/main.rs b/src-tauri/src/main.rs
index 2c23d03..af51509 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/main.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/main.rs
@@ -954,9 +954,6 @@ async fn save_lyrics(
     app_handle: AppHandle,
 ) -> Result<String, String> {
     let lyricsfile = lyricsfile.trim();
-    if lyricsfile.is_empty() {
-        return Err("Lyricsfile content cannot be empty".to_string());
-    }
 
     // Parse the lyricsfile content to validate it
     let _parsed = lyricsfile::parse_lyricsfile(lyricsfile).map_err(|err| err.to_string())?;
diff --git a/src/composables/edit-lyrics-v2/useEditLyricsV2Document.js b/src/composables/edit-lyrics-v2/useEditLyricsV2Document.js
index 6fafec0..379804f 100644
--- a/src/composables/edit-lyrics-v2/useEditLyricsV2Document.js
+++ b/src/composables/edit-lyrics-v2/useEditLyricsV2Document.js
@@ -264,12 +264,6 @@ export function useEditLyricsV2Document({ audioSource, lyricsfile, trackId, prog
     try {
       const serializedContent = serializedLyricsfile.value
 
-      // serializedLyricsfile returns empty string if there's nothing to serialize
-      // In that case, we treat it as a successful save (nothing to save)
-      if (!serializedContent) {
-        return true
-      }
-
       // Determine if this is a library track or a standalone lyricsfile
       // trackId is passed separately from audioSource to handle temporary associations
       // where a library track might be used for playback but the lyricsfile should not
diff --git a/src/utils/lyricsfile.js b/src/utils/lyricsfile.js
index 1ad1fb3..e5180d4 100644
--- a/src/utils/lyricsfile.js
+++ b/src/utils/lyricsfile.js
@@ -258,15 +258,6 @@ export const serializeLyricsfile = ({
   const normalizedSynced = normalizeNonEmpty(syncedLyrics)
   const normalizedSyncedLines = cloneSyncedLines(syncedLines)
 
-  if (
-    !normalizedPlain &&
-    normalizedSyncedLines.length === 0 &&
-    !normalizedSynced &&
-    !forceInstrumental
-  ) {
-    return null
-  }
-
   const isInstrumental =
     forceInstrumental || (normalizedSynced ? isInstrumentalLyrics(normalizedSynced) : false)
   const baseMetadata = baseDocument?.metadata || {}
@@ -288,8 +279,8 @@ export const serializeLyricsfile = ({
   }
 
   const plain = isInstrumental
-    ? undefined
-    : normalizedPlain || normalizeNonEmpty(stripTimestamp(normalizedSynced || '')) || undefined
+    ? null
+    : normalizedPlain || normalizeNonEmpty(stripTimestamp(normalizedSynced || '')) || null
 
   const metadata = {
     title: track?.title || baseMetadata.title || '',
@@ -318,7 +309,7 @@ export const serializeLyricsfile = ({
   return YAML.stringify({
     version: LYRICSFILE_VERSION,
     metadata,
-    lines,
+    lines: lines.length > 0 ? lines : null,
     plain,
   })
 }