diff --git a/plugin-server/src/utils/event.ts b/plugin-server/src/utils/event.ts
index 59ccbc6707d2e..3f02106b3b8a6 100644
--- a/plugin-server/src/utils/event.ts
+++ b/plugin-server/src/utils/event.ts
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ export function normalizeProcessPerson(event: PluginEvent, processPerson: boolea
     return event
 }
 
-export function normalizeEvent(event: PluginEvent): PluginEvent {
+export function normalizeEvent<T extends PipelineEvent | PluginEvent>(event: T): T {
     event.distinct_id = sanitizeString(String(event.distinct_id))
 
     let properties = event.properties ?? {}
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ export function normalizeEvent(event: PluginEvent): PluginEvent {
 export function formPipelineEvent(message: Message): PipelineEvent {
     // TODO: inefficient to do this twice?
     const { data: dataStr, ...rawEvent } = JSON.parse(message.value!.toString())
-    const combinedEvent = { ...JSON.parse(dataStr), ...rawEvent }
+    const combinedEvent: PipelineEvent = { ...JSON.parse(dataStr), ...rawEvent }
 
     // Track $set usage in events that aren't known to use it, before ingestion adds anything there
     if (
@@ -261,13 +261,13 @@ export function formPipelineEvent(message: Message): PipelineEvent {
             status.info('👀', 'Found $set usage in non-person event', {
                 event: combinedEvent.event,
                 team_id: combinedEvent.team_id,
+                token: combinedEvent.token,
             })
         }
     }
 
     const event: PipelineEvent = normalizeEvent({
         ...combinedEvent,
-        site_url: combinedEvent.site_url || null,
     })
     return event
 }
diff --git a/plugin-server/tests/main/ingestion-queues/each-batch.test.ts b/plugin-server/tests/main/ingestion-queues/each-batch.test.ts
index 98f5f5d965a36..e693267599197 100644
--- a/plugin-server/tests/main/ingestion-queues/each-batch.test.ts
+++ b/plugin-server/tests/main/ingestion-queues/each-batch.test.ts
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ describe('eachBatchX', () => {
                 ip: null,
                 now: null,
                 sent_at: null,
-                site_url: null,
+                site_url: '',
                 team_id: 1,
                 uuid: 'uuid1',
             })