diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index e7d6040af..83f1fefe2 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2737,6 +2737,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "seccompiler",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "serde_with",
  "serial_buffer",
  "sha2",
  "signal-hook",
diff --git a/vmm/Cargo.toml b/vmm/Cargo.toml
index f3de03cb5..fe5901b0e 100644
--- a/vmm/Cargo.toml
+++ b/vmm/Cargo.toml
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ rate_limiter = { path = "../rate_limiter" }
 seccompiler = { workspace = true }
 serde = { workspace = true, features = ["derive", "rc"] }
 serde_json = { workspace = true }
+serde_with = { workspace = true, features = ["macros"] }
 serial_buffer = { path = "../serial_buffer" }
 sha2 = { workspace = true }
 signal-hook = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/vmm/src/api/mod.rs b/vmm/src/api/mod.rs
index e4ee7235a..8e1c2b406 100644
--- a/vmm/src/api/mod.rs
+++ b/vmm/src/api/mod.rs
@@ -213,6 +213,7 @@ pub enum ApiError {
 }
 pub type ApiResult<T> = Result<T, ApiError>;
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct VmInfoResponse {
     pub config: Box<VmConfig>,
diff --git a/vmm/src/device_tree.rs b/vmm/src/device_tree.rs
index c1cb000df..6116cd55b 100644
--- a/vmm/src/device_tree.rs
+++ b/vmm/src/device_tree.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ use vm_migration::Migratable;
 
 use crate::device_manager::PciDeviceHandle;
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 pub struct DeviceNode {
     pub id: String,
diff --git a/vmm/src/vm_config.rs b/vmm/src/vm_config.rs
index 16351d3de..02efad065 100644
--- a/vmm/src/vm_config.rs
+++ b/vmm/src/vm_config.rs
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ pub fn default_cpuconfig_max_phys_bits() -> u8 {
     DEFAULT_MAX_PHYS_BITS
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct CpusConfig {
     pub boot_vcpus: u32,
@@ -123,6 +124,7 @@ pub fn default_platformconfig_vfio_p2p_dma() -> bool {
     true
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct PlatformConfig {
     #[serde(default = "default_platformconfig_num_pci_segments")]
@@ -221,6 +223,7 @@ pub struct PciSegmentConfig {
     pub mmio64_aperture_weight: u32,
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Default, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct MemoryZoneConfig {
     pub id: String,
@@ -269,6 +272,7 @@ fn default_cpusconfig_nested() -> bool {
     true
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct MemoryConfig {
     pub size: u64,
@@ -335,6 +339,7 @@ pub struct VirtQueueAffinity {
     pub host_cpus: Box<[usize]>,
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize, Default)]
 pub struct PciDeviceCommonConfig {
     #[serde(default)]
@@ -347,6 +352,7 @@ pub struct PciDeviceCommonConfig {
     pub pci_device_id: Option<u8>,
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct DiskConfig {
     #[serde(flatten)]
@@ -412,6 +418,7 @@ pub fn default_diskconfig_sparse() -> bool {
     true
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct NetConfig {
     #[serde(flatten)]
@@ -584,6 +591,7 @@ impl ApplyLandlock for GenericVhostUserConfig {
     }
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct PmemConfig {
     #[serde(flatten)]
@@ -616,6 +624,7 @@ pub enum ConsoleOutputMode {
 /// Common configuration for plain console configs.
 ///
 /// Independent of PCI or legacy devices.
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct CommonConsoleConfig {
     #[serde(default)]
@@ -703,6 +712,7 @@ impl ApplyLandlock for ConsoleConfig {
 }
 
 #[cfg(target_arch = "x86_64")]
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct DebugConsoleConfig {
     #[serde(default)]
@@ -736,6 +746,7 @@ impl ApplyLandlock for DebugConsoleConfig {
     }
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct DeviceConfig {
     #[serde(flatten)]
@@ -846,6 +857,7 @@ pub struct NumaDistance {
     pub distance: u8,
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct NumaConfig {
     pub guest_numa_id: u32,
@@ -898,6 +910,7 @@ pub enum PayloadConfigError {
     FwCfgInvalidItem(String),
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Deserialize, Eq, PartialEq, Serialize)]
 pub struct PayloadConfig {
     #[serde(default)]
@@ -919,6 +932,7 @@ pub struct PayloadConfig {
 }
 
 #[cfg(feature = "fw_cfg")]
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Deserialize, Eq, PartialEq, Serialize)]
 pub struct FwCfgConfig {
     pub e820: bool,
@@ -951,6 +965,7 @@ pub struct FwCfgItemList {
 }
 
 #[cfg(feature = "fw_cfg")]
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Deserialize, Eq, PartialEq, Serialize)]
 pub struct FwCfgItem {
     #[serde(default)]
@@ -1081,6 +1096,7 @@ impl ApplyLandlock for LandlockConfig {
     }
 }
 
+#[serde_with::skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct VmConfig {
     #[serde(default)]