diff --git a/goextVersion.go b/goextVersion.go
index 1f83311..5fcc869 100644
--- a/goextVersion.go
+++ b/goextVersion.go
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 package goext
 
-const GoextVersion = "0.0.511"
+const GoextVersion = "0.0.512"
 
-const GoextVersionTimestamp = "2024-09-15T18:22:07+0200"
+const GoextVersionTimestamp = "2024-09-15T21:25:21+0200"
diff --git a/gojson/encode.go b/gojson/encode.go
index 3aa758e..f851b67 100644
--- a/gojson/encode.go
+++ b/gojson/encode.go
@@ -788,7 +788,7 @@ FieldLoop:
 
 		if f.omitEmpty && isEmptyValue(fv) {
 			continue
-		} else if opts.filter != nil && !matchesJSONFilter(f.jsonfilter, *opts.filter) {
+		} else if !matchesJSONFilter(f.jsonfilter, opts.filter) {
 			continue
 		}
 		e.WriteByte(next)
@@ -808,16 +808,20 @@ FieldLoop:
 	}
 }
 
-func matchesJSONFilter(filter jsonfilter, value string) bool {
+func matchesJSONFilter(filter jsonfilter, value *string) bool {
 	if len(filter) == 0 {
-		return true
+		return true // no filter in struct
+	}
+
+	if value == nil || *value == "" {
+		return false // no filter set, but struct has filter, return false
 	}
 
 	if len(filter) == 1 && filter[0] == "-" {
 		return false
 	}
 
-	if filter.Contains(value) {
+	if filter.Contains(*value) {
 		return true
 	}