diff --git a/src/Listener/JsonApiListener.php b/src/Listener/JsonApiListener.php
index e24d9b25..b7fe5a23 100644
--- a/src/Listener/JsonApiListener.php
+++ b/src/Listener/JsonApiListener.php
@@ -1341,6 +1341,11 @@ protected function _convertJsonApiDocumentArray(array $document): array
     {
         $result = [];
 
+        // support deletion of relationships as per https://jsonapi.org/format/#crud-updating-to-one-relationships
+        if($document['data'] === null) {
+          return $result;
+        }
+
         // convert primary resource
         if (array_key_exists('id', $document['data'])) {
             $result['id'] = $document['data']['id'];