diff --git a/src/Micro/Internal/InfoResponse.php b/src/Micro/Internal/InfoResponse.php
index 1eb7892..abc5135 100644
--- a/src/Micro/Internal/InfoResponse.php
+++ b/src/Micro/Internal/InfoResponse.php
@@ -27,13 +27,13 @@ public function jsonSerialize(): array
             'id' => $this->info->identity->id,
             'version' => $this->info->identity->version,
             'description' => $this->info->description,
-            'metadata' => $this->info->identity->metadata,
+            'metadata' => (object) $this->info->identity->metadata,
             'endpoints' => array_map(
                 static fn(EndpointInfo $endpointInfo): array => [
                     'name' => $endpointInfo->name,
                     'subject' => $endpointInfo->subject,
                     'queue_group' => $endpointInfo->queueGroup,
-                    'metadata' => $endpointInfo->metadata,
+                    'metadata' => (object) $endpointInfo->metadata,
                 ],
                 $this->info->endpoints,
             ),
diff --git a/src/Micro/Internal/PingResponse.php b/src/Micro/Internal/PingResponse.php
index 4ac916b..0278efd 100644
--- a/src/Micro/Internal/PingResponse.php
+++ b/src/Micro/Internal/PingResponse.php
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ public function jsonSerialize(): array
             'name' => $this->identity->name,
             'id' => $this->identity->id,
             'version' => $this->identity->version,
-            'metadata' => $this->identity->metadata,
+            'metadata' => (object) $this->identity->metadata,
         ];
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Micro/Internal/StatsResponse.php b/src/Micro/Internal/StatsResponse.php
index dad2b52..d202dae 100644
--- a/src/Micro/Internal/StatsResponse.php
+++ b/src/Micro/Internal/StatsResponse.php
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ public function jsonSerialize(): array
             'name' => $this->stats->identity->name,
             'id' => $this->stats->identity->id,
             'version' => $this->stats->identity->version,
-            'metadata' => $this->stats->identity->metadata,
+            'metadata' => (object) $this->stats->identity->metadata,
             'started' => $this->stats->started->format(\DateTimeInterface::RFC3339),
             'endpoints' => array_map(
                 static fn(EndpointStats $stats): array => array_filter([
diff --git a/tests/Micro/ServiceTest.php b/tests/Micro/ServiceTest.php
index 3ed3d18..c1639c4 100644
--- a/tests/Micro/ServiceTest.php
+++ b/tests/Micro/ServiceTest.php
@@ -147,6 +147,51 @@ public function testControlResponsesMatchMicroSchema(): void
         $srv->stop();
     }
 
+    public function testEmptyMetadataIsEncodedAsJsonObject(): void
+    {
+        $nc = $this->client();
+
+        $srv = $nc->createService(new ServiceConfig(
+            name: 'NoMetadataService',
+            version: '1.0.0',
+        ));
+
+        $srv->addEndpoint(new EndpointConfig('echo', subject: 'no-metadata.echo'), static function (Request $request): void {
+            $request->respond(new Response($request->data));
+        });
+
+        foreach (['PING', 'INFO', 'STATS'] as $verb) {
+            $payload = (string) $nc->request("\$SRV.{$verb}.NoMetadataService")->message->payload;
+
+            self::assertStringContainsString('"metadata":{}', $payload, $verb);
+            self::assertStringNotContainsString('"metadata":[]', $payload, $verb);
+        }
+
+        $srv->stop();
+    }
+
+    public function testMetadataIsEncodedAsJsonObject(): void
+    {
+        $nc = $this->client();
+
+        $srv = $nc->createService(new ServiceConfig(
+            name: 'MetadataService',
+            version: '1.0.0',
+            metadata: ['env' => 'test'],
+        ));
+
+        $srv->addEndpoint(new EndpointConfig('echo', subject: 'metadata.echo', metadata: ['v' => '1']), static function (Request $request): void {
+            $request->respond(new Response($request->data));
+        });
+
+        $payload = (string) $nc->request('$SRV.INFO.MetadataService')->message->payload;
+
+        self::assertStringContainsString('"metadata":{"env":"test"}', $payload);
+        self::assertStringContainsString('"metadata":{"v":"1"}', $payload);
+
+        $srv->stop();
+    }
+
     public function testGroups(): void
     {
         $nc = $this->client();