diff --git a/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/conversation.rb b/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/conversation.rb
index b7c07c6..941d4d3 100644
--- a/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/conversation.rb
+++ b/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/conversation.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ module DiasporaFederation
 
       # @!attribute [r] messages
       #   @return [[Entities::Message]] Messages of this conversation
-      entity :messages, [Entities::Message]
+      entity :messages, [Entities::Message], default: []
 
       # @!attribute [r] author
       #   The diaspora ID of the person initiated the conversation.
diff --git a/lib/diaspora_federation/entity.rb b/lib/diaspora_federation/entity.rb
index 1edb93f..3dacbcf 100644
--- a/lib/diaspora_federation/entity.rb
+++ b/lib/diaspora_federation/entity.rb
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ module DiasporaFederation
     end
 
     def nilify(value)
-      return nil if value.respond_to?(:empty?) && value.empty?
+      return nil if value.respond_to?(:empty?) && value.empty? && !value.instance_of?(Array)
       value
     end
 
@@ -207,8 +207,9 @@ module DiasporaFederation
     # @return [Hash] entity data
     def self.entity_data(root_node)
       Hash[class_props.map {|name, type|
-        [name, parse_element_from_node(name, type, root_node)]
-      }]
+        value = parse_element_from_node(name, type, root_node)
+        [name, value] if value
+      }.compact]
     end
     private_class_method :entity_data
 
@@ -257,7 +258,7 @@ module DiasporaFederation
     # @return [Array<Entity>] array with parsed child entities
     def self.parse_array_from_node(type, root_node)
       node = root_node.xpath(type.entity_name)
-      node.map {|child| type.from_xml(child) }
+      node.map {|child| type.from_xml(child) } unless node.empty?
     end
     private_class_method :parse_array_from_node
 
diff --git a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/conversation_spec.rb b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/conversation_spec.rb
index d050acf..72802b3 100644
--- a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/conversation_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/conversation_spec.rb
@@ -35,5 +35,24 @@ XML
     it_behaves_like "an Entity subclass"
 
     it_behaves_like "an XML Entity"
+
+    context "default values" do
+      let(:minimal_xml) {
+        <<-XML
+<conversation>
+  <guid>#{parent.guid}</guid>
+  <subject>#{data[:subject]}</subject>
+  <created_at>#{data[:created_at]}</created_at>
+  <author>#{data[:author]}</author>
+  <participant_handles>#{data[:participants]}</participant_handles>
+</conversation>
+        XML
+      }
+
+      it "allows no nested messages" do
+        parsed_instance = DiasporaFederation::Salmon::XmlPayload.unpack(Nokogiri::XML::Document.parse(minimal_xml).root)
+        expect(parsed_instance.messages).to eq([])
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/photo_spec.rb b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/photo_spec.rb
index f7d9ae9..c5ccda1 100644
--- a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/photo_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/photo_spec.rb
@@ -22,5 +22,28 @@ XML
     it_behaves_like "an Entity subclass"
 
     it_behaves_like "an XML Entity"
+
+    context "default values" do
+      let(:minimal_xml) {
+        <<-XML
+<photo>
+  <guid>#{data[:guid]}</guid>
+  <author>#{data[:author]}</author>
+  <created_at>#{data[:created_at]}</created_at>
+  <remote_photo_path>#{data[:remote_photo_path]}</remote_photo_path>
+  <remote_photo_name>#{data[:remote_photo_name]}</remote_photo_name>
+  <status_message_guid>#{data[:status_message_guid]}</status_message_guid>
+  <height>#{data[:height]}</height>
+  <width>#{data[:width]}</width>
+</photo>
+        XML
+      }
+
+      it "uses default values" do
+        parsed_instance = DiasporaFederation::Salmon::XmlPayload.unpack(Nokogiri::XML::Document.parse(minimal_xml).root)
+        expect(parsed_instance.public).to be_falsey
+        expect(parsed_instance.text).to be_nil
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/profile_spec.rb b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/profile_spec.rb
index c3d7afe..a2f3bc2 100644
--- a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/profile_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/profile_spec.rb
@@ -25,5 +25,31 @@ XML
     it_behaves_like "an Entity subclass"
 
     it_behaves_like "an XML Entity"
+
+    context "default values" do
+      let(:minimal_xml) {
+        <<-XML
+<profile>
+  <author>#{data[:author]}</author>
+</profile>
+        XML
+      }
+
+      it "uses default values" do
+        parsed_instance = DiasporaFederation::Salmon::XmlPayload.unpack(Nokogiri::XML::Document.parse(minimal_xml).root)
+        expect(parsed_instance.first_name).to be_nil
+        expect(parsed_instance.last_name).to be_nil
+        expect(parsed_instance.image_url).to be_nil
+        expect(parsed_instance.image_url_medium).to be_nil
+        expect(parsed_instance.image_url_small).to be_nil
+        expect(parsed_instance.birthday).to be_nil
+        expect(parsed_instance.gender).to be_nil
+        expect(parsed_instance.bio).to be_nil
+        expect(parsed_instance.location).to be_nil
+        expect(parsed_instance.searchable).to be_truthy
+        expect(parsed_instance.nsfw).to be_falsey
+        expect(parsed_instance.tag_string).to be_nil
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/reshare_spec.rb b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/reshare_spec.rb
index a0b5735..2a1a1d3 100644
--- a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/reshare_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/reshare_spec.rb
@@ -19,5 +19,25 @@ XML
     it_behaves_like "an Entity subclass"
 
     it_behaves_like "an XML Entity"
+
+    context "default values" do
+      let(:minimal_xml) {
+        <<-XML
+<reshare>
+  <author>#{data[:author]}</author>
+  <guid>#{data[:guid]}</guid>
+  <created_at>#{data[:created_at]}</created_at>
+  <root_diaspora_id>#{data[:root_author]}</root_diaspora_id>
+  <root_guid>#{data[:root_guid]}</root_guid>
+</reshare>
+        XML
+      }
+
+      it "uses default values" do
+        parsed_instance = DiasporaFederation::Salmon::XmlPayload.unpack(Nokogiri::XML::Document.parse(minimal_xml).root)
+        expect(parsed_instance.public).to be_truthy
+        expect(parsed_instance.provider_display_name).to be_nil
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/status_message_spec.rb b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/status_message_spec.rb
index 5056ac2..eea0e92 100644
--- a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/status_message_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entities/status_message_spec.rb
@@ -57,5 +57,27 @@ module DiasporaFederation
     it_behaves_like "an Entity subclass"
 
     it_behaves_like "an XML Entity"
+
+    context "default values" do
+      let(:minimal_xml) {
+        <<-XML
+<status_message>
+  <author>#{data[:author]}</author>
+  <guid>#{data[:guid]}</guid>
+  <created_at>#{data[:created_at]}</created_at>
+  <raw_message>#{data[:raw_message]}</raw_message>
+</status_message>
+        XML
+      }
+
+      it "uses default values" do
+        parsed_instance = DiasporaFederation::Salmon::XmlPayload.unpack(Nokogiri::XML::Document.parse(minimal_xml).root)
+        expect(parsed_instance.photos).to eq([])
+        expect(parsed_instance.location).to be_nil
+        expect(parsed_instance.poll).to be_nil
+        expect(parsed_instance.public).to be_falsey
+        expect(parsed_instance.provider_display_name).to be_nil
+      end
+    end
   end
 end