diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/avro/TypeToSchema.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/avro/TypeToSchema.java
index a3cc60eba..b9a7c5faa 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/avro/TypeToSchema.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/avro/TypeToSchema.java
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 
 package org.apache.iceberg.avro;
 
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Deque;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -103,7 +105,8 @@ public Schema struct(Types.StructType struct, List<Schema> fieldSchemas) {
       String fieldName =  isValidFieldName ? origFieldName : AvroSchemaUtil.sanitize(origFieldName);
       Object defaultValue = structField.hasDefaultValue() ? structField.getDefaultValue() :
           (structField.isOptional() ? JsonProperties.NULL_VALUE : null);
-      Schema.Field field = new Schema.Field(fieldName, fieldSchemas.get(i), structField.doc(), defaultValue);
+      Schema.Field field = new Schema.Field(fieldName, fieldSchemas.get(i), structField.doc(),
+          convertToJsonNull(defaultValue));
       if (!isValidFieldName) {
         field.addProp(AvroSchemaUtil.ICEBERG_FIELD_NAME_PROP, origFieldName);
       }
@@ -232,4 +235,32 @@ public Schema primitive(Type.PrimitiveType primitive) {
 
     return primitiveSchema;
   }
+
+  // This function ensures that all nested null are converted to JsonProperties.NULL_VALUE
+  // to make sure JacksonUtils.toJsonNode() converts them properly.
+  private Object convertToJsonNull(Object defaultValue) {
+    if (defaultValue instanceof Map) {
+      for (Map.Entry<Object, Object> entry : ((Map<Object, Object>) defaultValue).entrySet()) {
+        if (entry.getValue() instanceof Map || entry.getValue() instanceof Collection) {
+          entry.setValue(convertToJsonNull(entry.getValue()));
+        } else {
+          entry.setValue(JsonProperties.NULL_VALUE);
+        }
+      }
+      return defaultValue;
+    } else if (defaultValue instanceof List) {
+      List<Object> originalList = (List<Object>) defaultValue;
+      List<Object> copiedList = new ArrayList<>();
+
+      for (Object element : originalList) {
+        if (element instanceof Map || element instanceof Collection) {
+          copiedList.add(convertToJsonNull(element));
+        } else {
+          copiedList.add(JsonProperties.NULL_VALUE);
+        }
+      }
+      return copiedList;
+    }
+    return defaultValue;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/avro/TestSchemaConversions.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/avro/TestSchemaConversions.java
index b1ebe5bd3..560a54b70 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/avro/TestSchemaConversions.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/avro/TestSchemaConversions.java
@@ -516,4 +516,72 @@ public void testVariousTypesDefaultValues() {
     Assert.assertTrue(IntStream.range(0, roundTripiSchema.columns().size())
         .allMatch(i -> roundTripiSchema.columns().get(i).equals(iSchema.columns().get(i))));
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testConversionOfRecordWithNestedSubElement() {
+    String schemaString = "{\n" +
+        "    \"type\": \"record\",\n" +
+        "    \"name\": \"Root\",\n" +
+        "    \"fields\": [\n" +
+        "        {\n" +
+        "            \"name\": \"OuterRecord1\",\n" +
+        "            \"type\": [\n" +
+        "                \"null\",\n" +
+        "                {\n" +
+        "                    \"type\": \"record\",\n" +
+        "                    \"name\": \"InnerElement\",\n" +
+        "                    \"fields\": [\n" +
+        "                        {\n" +
+        "                            \"name\": \"InnerField\",\n" +
+        "                            \"type\": {\n" +
+        "                                \"type\": \"record\",\n" +
+        "                                \"name\": \"InnerField1\",\n" +
+        "                                \"fields\": [\n" +
+        "                                    {\n" +
+        "                                        \"name\": \"InnerField1Param\",\n" +
+        "                                        \"type\": [\n" +
+        "                                            \"null\",\n" +
+        "                                            \"string\"\n" +
+        "                                        ],\n" +
+        "                                        \"default\": null\n" +
+        "                                    }\n" +
+        "                                ]\n" +
+        "                            },\n" +
+        "                            \"default\": {\n" +
+        "                                \"InnerField1Param\": null\n" +
+        "                            }\n" +
+        "                        }\n" +
+        "                    ]\n" +
+        "                }\n" +
+        "            ],\n" +
+        "            \"default\": null\n" +
+        "        },\n" +
+        "        {\n" +
+        "            \"name\": \"InnerElementV2\",\n" +
+        "            \"type\": [\n" +
+        "                \"null\",\n" +
+        "                {\n" +
+        "                    \"type\": \"record\",\n" +
+        "                    \"name\": \"InnerElementV2\",\n" +
+        "                    \"fields\": [\n" +
+        "                        {\n" +
+        "                            \"name\": \"InnerField2\",\n" +
+        "                            \"type\": {\n" +
+        "                                \"type\": \"array\",\n" +
+        "                                \"items\": \"InnerElement\"\n" +
+        "                            },\n" +
+        "                            \"default\": []\n" +
+        "                        }\n" +
+        "                    ]\n" +
+        "                }\n" +
+        "            ],\n" +
+        "            \"default\": null\n" +
+        "        }\n" +
+        "    ]\n" +
+        "}";
+    Schema schema = new Schema.Parser().parse(schemaString);
+    org.apache.iceberg.Schema iSchema = AvroSchemaUtil.toIceberg(schema);
+    String jSchema = SchemaParser.toJson(iSchema);
+    org.apache.iceberg.Schema roundTripiSchema = SchemaParser.fromJson(jSchema);
+  }
 }