diff --git a/native/perform_etl.cc b/native/perform_etl.cc
index 7be5396..eda0bda 100644
--- a/native/perform_etl.cc
+++ b/native/perform_etl.cc
@@ -969,7 +969,12 @@ void join_and_write_single(
         }
     }
 
-    auto metadata_type = std::make_shared<arrow::StructType>(metadata_fields);
+    std::shared_ptr<arrow::DataType> metadata_type;
+    if (metadata_columns.size() != 0) {
+        metadata_type = std::make_shared<arrow::StructType>(metadata_fields);
+    } else {
+        metadata_type = std::make_shared<arrow::FloatType>();
+    }
 
     auto timestamp_type =
         std::make_shared<arrow::TimestampType>(arrow::TimeUnit::MICRO);
@@ -984,6 +989,7 @@ void join_and_write_single(
 
         arrow::field("metadata", metadata_type),
     };
+
     auto measurement_type =
         std::make_shared<arrow::StructType>(measurement_type_fields);
 
@@ -1074,29 +1080,41 @@ void join_and_write_single(
         metadata_columns.size());
     std::vector<std::shared_ptr<arrow::FixedSizeBinaryBuilder>>
         primitive_metadata_builders(metadata_columns.size());
-    std::vector<std::shared_ptr<arrow::ArrayBuilder>> metadata_builders(
-        metadata_columns.size());
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < metadata_columns.size(); i++) {
-        if (is_text_metadata[i]) {
-            auto builder = std::make_shared<arrow::StringBuilder>(pool);
-            text_metadata_builders[i] = builder;
-            metadata_builders[i] = builder;
-        } else {
-            auto builder = std::make_shared<arrow::FixedSizeBinaryBuilder>(
-                std::make_shared<arrow::FixedSizeBinaryType>(
-                    metadata_columns[i].second->byte_width()));
-            primitive_metadata_builders[i] = builder;
-            metadata_builders[i] = builder;
+
+    std::shared_ptr<arrow::StructBuilder> metadata_builder;
+    std::shared_ptr<arrow::FloatBuilder> null_metadata_builder;
+    std::shared_ptr<arrow::ArrayBuilder> metadata_builder_holder;
+
+    if (metadata_columns.size() != 0) {
+        std::vector<std::shared_ptr<arrow::ArrayBuilder>> metadata_builders(
+            metadata_columns.size());
+        for (size_t i = 0; i < metadata_columns.size(); i++) {
+            if (is_text_metadata[i]) {
+                auto builder = std::make_shared<arrow::StringBuilder>(pool);
+                text_metadata_builders[i] = builder;
+                metadata_builders[i] = builder;
+            } else {
+                auto builder = std::make_shared<arrow::FixedSizeBinaryBuilder>(
+                    std::make_shared<arrow::FixedSizeBinaryType>(
+                        metadata_columns[i].second->byte_width()));
+                primitive_metadata_builders[i] = builder;
+                metadata_builders[i] = builder;
+            }
         }
-    }
 
-    auto metadata_builder = std::make_shared<arrow::StructBuilder>(
-        metadata_type, pool, metadata_builders);
+        metadata_builder = std::make_shared<arrow::StructBuilder>(
+            metadata_type, pool, metadata_builders);
+        metadata_builder_holder = metadata_builder;
+    } else {
+        null_metadata_builder = std::make_shared<arrow::FloatBuilder>(pool);
+        metadata_builder_holder = null_metadata_builder;
+    }
 
     std::vector<std::shared_ptr<arrow::ArrayBuilder>>
-        measurement_builder_fields{code_builder, text_value_builder,
-                                   numeric_value_builder,
-                                   datetime_value_builder, metadata_builder};
+        measurement_builder_fields{
+            code_builder, text_value_builder, numeric_value_builder,
+            datetime_value_builder, metadata_builder_holder};
+
     auto measurement_builder = std::make_shared<arrow::StructBuilder>(
         measurement_type, pool, measurement_builder_fields);
 
@@ -1125,6 +1143,7 @@ void join_and_write_single(
 
         std::shared_ptr<arrow::Table> table =
             arrow::Table::Make(schema, columns);
+
         PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(writer->WriteTable(*table));
 
         amount_written = 0;
@@ -1211,29 +1230,34 @@ void join_and_write_single(
             PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(text_value_builder->AppendNull());
         }
 
-        PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(metadata_builder->Append());
-        for (size_t j = 0; j < metadata_columns.size(); j++) {
-            if (non_null[3 + j]) {
-                size_t size = *reinterpret_cast<const size_t*>(
-                    patient_record.substr(offset).data());
-                offset += sizeof(size);
-                auto entry = patient_record.substr(offset, size);
-
-                if (is_text_metadata[j]) {
-                    PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(
-                        text_metadata_builders[j]->Append(entry));
-                } else {
-                    PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(
-                        primitive_metadata_builders[j]->Append(entry));
-                }
-                offset += size;
-            } else {
-                if (is_text_metadata[j]) {
-                    PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(
-                        text_metadata_builders[j]->AppendNull());
+        if (metadata_columns.size() == 0) {
+            PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(null_metadata_builder->AppendNull());
+        } else {
+            PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(metadata_builder->Append());
+
+            for (size_t j = 0; j < metadata_columns.size(); j++) {
+                if (non_null[3 + j]) {
+                    size_t size = *reinterpret_cast<const size_t*>(
+                        patient_record.substr(offset).data());
+                    offset += sizeof(size);
+                    auto entry = patient_record.substr(offset, size);
+
+                    if (is_text_metadata[j]) {
+                        PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(
+                            text_metadata_builders[j]->Append(entry));
+                    } else {
+                        PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(
+                            primitive_metadata_builders[j]->Append(entry));
+                    }
+                    offset += size;
                 } else {
-                    PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(
-                        primitive_metadata_builders[j]->AppendNull());
+                    if (is_text_metadata[j]) {
+                        PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(
+                            text_metadata_builders[j]->AppendNull());
+                    } else {
+                        PARQUET_THROW_NOT_OK(
+                            primitive_metadata_builders[j]->AppendNull());
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }