diff --git a/adapter-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/adapter/pulsar/ops/MessageProducerOp.java b/adapter-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/adapter/pulsar/ops/MessageProducerOp.java
index f1de93ddf..6f20029bd 100644
--- a/adapter-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/adapter/pulsar/ops/MessageProducerOp.java
+++ b/adapter-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/adapter/pulsar/ops/MessageProducerOp.java
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ public class MessageProducerOp extends PulsarClientOp {
         }
 
         // set message properties
-        if ( !msgPropRawJsonStr.isEmpty() ) {
+        if (!StringUtils.isBlank(msgPropRawJsonStr) || seqTracking) {
             typedMessageBuilder = typedMessageBuilder.properties(msgProperties);
         }