diff --git a/internal/bucket/lifecycle/filter.go b/internal/bucket/lifecycle/filter.go
index 446397a50..6e605d3e3 100644
--- a/internal/bucket/lifecycle/filter.go
+++ b/internal/bucket/lifecycle/filter.go
@@ -49,6 +49,10 @@ type Filter struct {
 // MarshalXML - produces the xml representation of the Filter struct
 // only one of Prefix, And and Tag should be present in the output.
 func (f Filter) MarshalXML(e *xml.Encoder, start xml.StartElement) error {
+	if !f.set {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	if err := e.EncodeToken(start); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}