diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/stats/MLStatsNodeResponse.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/stats/MLStatsNodeResponse.java
index 2904c84172..681e7f15fb 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/stats/MLStatsNodeResponse.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/stats/MLStatsNodeResponse.java
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ public class MLStatsNodeResponse extends BaseNodeResponse implements ToXContentF
      */
     private Map<FunctionName, MLAlgoStats> algorithmStats;
     /**
-     * Model stats which includes stats level stats.
+     * Model stats which includes model level stats.
      *
      * Example: {model_id: { predict: { request_count: 1} }}
      */
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/stats/MLModelStats.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/stats/MLModelStats.java
index 8c44c309f0..592011938e 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/stats/MLModelStats.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/stats/MLModelStats.java
@@ -36,7 +36,9 @@ public MLModelStats(Map<ActionName, MLActionStats> modelStats) {
 
     @Override
     public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
-        out.writeMap(modelStats, (stream, v) -> stream.writeEnum(v), (stream, stats) -> stats.writeTo(stream));
+        if (modelStats != null && modelStats.size() > 0) {
+            out.writeMap(modelStats, (stream, v) -> stream.writeEnum(v), (stream, stats) -> stats.writeTo(stream));
+        }
     }
 
     @Override