diff --git a/includes/classes/class-add-listing.php b/includes/classes/class-add-listing.php
index 2c392c2f83..066af00946 100644
--- a/includes/classes/class-add-listing.php
+++ b/includes/classes/class-add-listing.php
@@ -542,10 +542,6 @@ public static function filter_empty_meta_data( $meta_data ) {
                         return false;
                     }
 
-                    if ( is_numeric( $value ) && $value == 0 ) {
-                        return false;
-                    }
-
                     return true;
                 }, ARRAY_FILTER_USE_BOTH
             );
diff --git a/includes/classes/class-submission-controller.php b/includes/classes/class-submission-controller.php
index e06ffff2ee..d652fe05f5 100644
--- a/includes/classes/class-submission-controller.php
+++ b/includes/classes/class-submission-controller.php
@@ -510,10 +510,6 @@ protected static function filter_empty_meta_data( $meta_data ) {
                     return false;
                 }
 
-                if ( is_numeric( $value ) && $value == 0 ) {
-                    return false;
-                }
-
                 return true;
             }, ARRAY_FILTER_USE_BOTH 
         );
diff --git a/includes/fields/class-directorist-number-field.php b/includes/fields/class-directorist-number-field.php
index 85919772cf..8fabdb9d2f 100644
--- a/includes/fields/class-directorist-number-field.php
+++ b/includes/fields/class-directorist-number-field.php
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ public function validate( $posted_data ) {
     }
 
     public function sanitize( $posted_data ) {
+        if ( $this->is_value_empty( $posted_data ) ) {
+            return '';
+        }
+
         return round( (float) $this->get_value( $posted_data ), 2 );
     }
 }
diff --git a/includes/helper-functions.php b/includes/helper-functions.php
index 57b3da23c1..bc0cb6587e 100644
--- a/includes/helper-functions.php
+++ b/includes/helper-functions.php
@@ -4628,10 +4628,6 @@ function directorist_filter_listing_empty_metadata( $meta_data ) {
                 return false;
             }
 
-            if ( is_numeric( $value ) && $value == 0 ) {
-                return false;
-            }
-
             return true;
         }, ARRAY_FILTER_USE_BOTH
     );
diff --git a/includes/model/Listings.php b/includes/model/Listings.php
index 17a3ac4636..5a925fb6e5 100644
--- a/includes/model/Listings.php
+++ b/includes/model/Listings.php
@@ -997,8 +997,12 @@ public function parse_search_query_args() {
 
         if ( isset( $_REQUEST['custom_field'] ) ) {
             // Multi-dimensional array, sanitized inside
-			// phpcs:ignore WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput.InputNotSanitized
-            $custom_fields = array_filter( wp_unslash( $_REQUEST['custom_field'] ) );
+            $custom_fields = array_filter(
+                // phpcs:ignore WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput.InputNotSanitized
+                wp_unslash( $_REQUEST['custom_field'] ), static function( $value ) {
+                    return is_array( $value ) ? ! empty( $value ) : null !== $value && '' !== $value;
+                }
+            );
 
             foreach ( $custom_fields as $key => $values ) {
                 $key = sanitize_text_field( $key );
diff --git a/includes/model/SearchForm.php b/includes/model/SearchForm.php
index ce6d259af7..4fa8efa3e0 100644
--- a/includes/model/SearchForm.php
+++ b/includes/model/SearchForm.php
@@ -732,7 +732,7 @@ public function field_template( $field_data ) {
         $field_data['lazy_load'] = false;
 
         if ( $this->is_custom_field( $field_data ) ) {
-            if ( ! empty( $_REQUEST['custom_field'][$key] ) ) {
+            if ( isset( $_REQUEST['custom_field'][$key] ) ) {
                 $value = is_array( $_REQUEST['custom_field'][$key] ) ? array_map( 'sanitize_text_field', wp_unslash( $_REQUEST['custom_field'][$key] ) ) : sanitize_text_field( wp_unslash( $_REQUEST['custom_field'][$key] ) );
             } else {
                 $value = '';