diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/com/hedera/hashgraph/sdk/NodeUpdateTransaction.java b/sdk/src/main/java/com/hedera/hashgraph/sdk/NodeUpdateTransaction.java
index 19312002f..de5a31575 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/com/hedera/hashgraph/sdk/NodeUpdateTransaction.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/com/hedera/hashgraph/sdk/NodeUpdateTransaction.java
@@ -454,7 +454,9 @@ void initFromTransactionBody() {
             accountId = AccountId.fromProtobuf(body.getAccountId());
         }
 
-        description = body.getDescription().getValue();
+        if (body.hasDescription()) {
+            description = body.getDescription().getValue();
+        }
 
         for (var gossipEndpoint : body.getGossipEndpointList()) {
             gossipEndpoints.add(Endpoint.fromProtobuf(gossipEndpoint));
diff --git a/sdk/src/test/java/com/hedera/hashgraph/sdk/NodeUpdateTransactionTest.java b/sdk/src/test/java/com/hedera/hashgraph/sdk/NodeUpdateTransactionTest.java
index 2d976e435..f56474b57 100644
--- a/sdk/src/test/java/com/hedera/hashgraph/sdk/NodeUpdateTransactionTest.java
+++ b/sdk/src/test/java/com/hedera/hashgraph/sdk/NodeUpdateTransactionTest.java
@@ -118,12 +118,13 @@ void shouldBytes() throws Exception {
     }
 
     @Test
-    void testNullCertificates() throws Exception {
+    void testNullOptionalValues() throws Exception {
         var tx = new NodeUpdateTransaction();
         var tx2Bytes = tx.toBytes();
         NodeUpdateTransaction deserializedTx = (NodeUpdateTransaction) Transaction.fromBytes(tx2Bytes);
         assertThat(deserializedTx.getGossipCaCertificate()).isNull();
         assertThat(deserializedTx.getGrpcCertificateHash()).isNull();
+        assertThat(deserializedTx.getDescription()).isNull();
     }
 
     @Test