diff --git a/src/libnm-core-impl/nm-setting.c b/src/libnm-core-impl/nm-setting.c
index 35139ebadd..f3399d58c8 100644
--- a/src/libnm-core-impl/nm-setting.c
+++ b/src/libnm-core-impl/nm-setting.c
@@ -729,6 +729,24 @@ out_take:
     return nm_strdup_reset_take(dst, s);
 }
 
+static gboolean
+_property_direct_set_strv(const NMSettInfoSetting  *sett_info,
+                          const NMSettInfoProperty *property_info,
+                          NMSetting                *setting,
+                          const char *const        *strv)
+{
+    NMValueStrv *p_val = _nm_setting_get_private_field(setting, sett_info, property_info);
+
+    if (!property_info->direct_strv_preserve_empty && strv && !strv[0])
+        strv = NULL;
+
+    if (nm_strvarray_equal_strv(p_val->arr, strv, -1))
+        return FALSE;
+
+    nm_strvarray_set_strv_full(&p_val->arr, strv, property_info->direct_strv_preserve_empty);
+    return TRUE;
+}
+
 void
 _nm_setting_property_get_property_direct(GObject    *object,
                                          guint       prop_id,
@@ -817,7 +835,12 @@ _nm_setting_property_get_property_direct(GObject    *object,
     {
         const NMValueStrv *p_val = _nm_setting_get_private_field(setting, sett_info, property_info);
 
-        g_value_take_boxed(value, nm_strvarray_get_strv_notempty_dup(p_val->arr, NULL));
+        g_value_take_boxed(
+            value,
+            nm_strvarray_get_strv_full_dup(p_val->arr,
+                                           NULL,
+                                           FALSE,
+                                           property_info->direct_strv_preserve_empty));
         return;
     }
     default:
@@ -956,17 +979,9 @@ _nm_setting_property_set_property_direct(GObject      *object,
         goto out_notify;
     }
     case NM_VALUE_TYPE_STRV:
-    {
-        NMValueStrv       *p_val = _nm_setting_get_private_field(setting, sett_info, property_info);
-        const char *const *v;
-
-        v = g_value_get_boxed(value);
-        if (nm_strvarray_equal_strv(p_val->arr, v, -1))
+        if (!_property_direct_set_strv(sett_info, property_info, setting, g_value_get_boxed(value)))
             return;
-
-        nm_strvarray_set_strv(&p_val->arr, v);
         goto out_notify;
-    }
     default:
         goto out_fail;
     }
@@ -1281,7 +1296,7 @@ _nm_setting_property_to_dbus_fcn_direct(_NM_SETT_INFO_PROP_TO_DBUS_FCN_ARGS _nm_
             (const NMValueStrv *) _nm_setting_get_private_field(setting, sett_info, property_info);
         if (!val->arr)
             return NULL;
-        if (val->arr->len == 0) {
+        if (!property_info->direct_strv_preserve_empty && val->arr->len == 0) {
             /* This property does not treat empty strv arrays special. No need
              * to export the value on D-Bus. */
             return NULL;
@@ -1650,7 +1665,6 @@ _nm_setting_property_from_dbus_fcn_direct(_NM_SETT_INFO_PROP_FROM_DBUS_FCN_ARGS
     }
     case NM_VALUE_TYPE_STRV:
     {
-        NMValueStrv         *p_val;
         gs_free const char **ss = NULL;
         gsize                ss_len;
 
@@ -1661,13 +1675,10 @@ _nm_setting_property_from_dbus_fcn_direct(_NM_SETT_INFO_PROP_FROM_DBUS_FCN_ARGS
 
         ss = g_variant_get_strv(value, &ss_len);
         nm_assert(ss_len <= G_MAXUINT);
+        nm_assert(NM_PTRARRAY_LEN(ss) == ss_len);
 
-        p_val = _nm_setting_get_private_field(setting, sett_info, property_info);
-
-        if (nm_strvarray_equal_strv(p_val->arr, ss, ss_len))
+        if (!_property_direct_set_strv(sett_info, property_info, setting, ss))
             goto out_unchanged;
-
-        nm_strvarray_set_strv(&p_val->arr, ss);
         goto out_notify;
     }
     default:
@@ -2590,11 +2601,13 @@ _nm_setting_property_compare_fcn_direct(_NM_SETT_INFO_PROP_COMPARE_FCN_ARGS _nm_
         const GArray      *a   = v_a->arr;
         const GArray      *b   = v_b->arr;
 
-        /* NULL and empty are treated identical. Coerce to NULL. */
-        if (a && a->len == 0)
-            a = NULL;
-        if (b && b->len == 0)
-            b = NULL;
+        if (!property_info->direct_strv_preserve_empty) {
+            /* NULL and empty are treated identical. Coerce to NULL. */
+            if (a && a->len == 0)
+                a = NULL;
+            if (b && b->len == 0)
+                b = NULL;
+        }
         return nm_strvarray_equal(a, b);
     }
     default:
diff --git a/src/libnm-core-impl/tests/test-setting.c b/src/libnm-core-impl/tests/test-setting.c
index 53a7acd2fc..e9aa99819f 100644
--- a/src/libnm-core-impl/tests/test-setting.c
+++ b/src/libnm-core-impl/tests/test-setting.c
@@ -4736,6 +4736,8 @@ test_setting_metadata(void)
                 g_assert(sip->param_spec);
                 g_assert(!NM_FLAGS_HAS(sip->param_spec->flags, NM_SETTING_PARAM_SECRET));
             }
+            if (sip->direct_strv_preserve_empty)
+                g_assert(sip->property_type->direct_type == NM_VALUE_TYPE_STRV);
 
             if (sip->direct_set_string_mac_address_len != 0) {
                 g_assert(NM_IN_SET(sip->property_type,
diff --git a/src/libnm-core-intern/nm-core-internal.h b/src/libnm-core-intern/nm-core-internal.h
index 1679a724f2..2d42025a61 100644
--- a/src/libnm-core-intern/nm-core-internal.h
+++ b/src/libnm-core-intern/nm-core-internal.h
@@ -818,6 +818,14 @@ struct _NMSettInfoProperty {
     /* Whether the string property is implemented as a (downcast) NMRefString. */
     bool direct_string_is_refstr : 1;
 
+    /* Usually, for strv arrays (NM_VALUE_TYPE_STRV, NMValueStrv) there is little
+     * difference between NULL/unset and empty arrays. E.g. g_object_get() will
+     * return NULL and never an empty strv array.
+     *
+     * By setting this flag, this property treats a NULL array different from
+     * an empty array. */
+    bool direct_strv_preserve_empty : 1;
+
     /* Usually, properties that are set to the default value for the GParamSpec
      * are not serialized to GVariant (and NULL is returned by to_dbus_data().
      * Set this flag to force always converting the property even if the value