diff --git a/hudi-utilities/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/S3EventsHoodieIncrSource.java b/hudi-utilities/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/S3EventsHoodieIncrSource.java
index 434e14a80..286feb374 100644
--- a/hudi-utilities/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/S3EventsHoodieIncrSource.java
+++ b/hudi-utilities/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/S3EventsHoodieIncrSource.java
@@ -122,13 +122,13 @@ public class S3EventsHoodieIncrSource extends HoodieIncrSource {
     }
 
     String filter = "s3.object.size > 0";
-    if (!StringUtils.isNullOrEmpty(props.getString(Config.S3_KEY_PREFIX))) {
+    if (!StringUtils.isNullOrEmpty(props.getString(Config.S3_KEY_PREFIX, null))) {
       filter = filter + " and s3.object.key like '" + props.getString(Config.S3_KEY_PREFIX) + "%'";
     }
-    if (!StringUtils.isNullOrEmpty(props.getString(Config.S3_IGNORE_KEY_PREFIX))) {
+    if (!StringUtils.isNullOrEmpty(props.getString(Config.S3_IGNORE_KEY_PREFIX, null))) {
       filter = filter + " and s3.object.key not like '" + props.getString(Config.S3_IGNORE_KEY_PREFIX) + "%'";
     }
-    if (!StringUtils.isNullOrEmpty(props.getString(Config.S3_IGNORE_KEY_SUBSTRING))) {
+    if (!StringUtils.isNullOrEmpty(props.getString(Config.S3_IGNORE_KEY_SUBSTRING, null))) {
       filter = filter + " and s3.object.key not like '%" + props.getString(Config.S3_IGNORE_KEY_SUBSTRING) + "%'";
     }
     // add file format filtering by default