diff --git a/graph/db/graph_test.go b/graph/db/graph_test.go
index aae7e5a7e..e644fea19 100644
--- a/graph/db/graph_test.go
+++ b/graph/db/graph_test.go
@@ -82,7 +82,6 @@ func createLightningNode(priv *btcec.PrivateKey) *models.LightningNode {
 		Alias:                "kek" + hex.EncodeToString(pub),
 		Features:             testFeatures,
 		Addresses:            testAddrs,
-		ExtraOpaqueData:      make([]byte, 0),
 	}
 	copy(n.PubKeyBytes[:], priv.PubKey().SerializeCompressed())
 
diff --git a/graph/db/kv_store.go b/graph/db/kv_store.go
index 187fc13af..b08c86022 100644
--- a/graph/db/kv_store.go
+++ b/graph/db/kv_store.go
@@ -4122,7 +4122,7 @@ func deserializeLightningNode(r io.Reader) (models.LightningNode, error) {
 
 	// We'll try and see if there are any opaque bytes left, if not, then
 	// we'll ignore the EOF error and return the node as is.
-	node.ExtraOpaqueData, err = wire.ReadVarBytes(
+	extraBytes, err := wire.ReadVarBytes(
 		r, 0, MaxAllowedExtraOpaqueBytes, "blob",
 	)
 	switch {
@@ -4132,6 +4132,10 @@ func deserializeLightningNode(r io.Reader) (models.LightningNode, error) {
 		return models.LightningNode{}, err
 	}
 
+	if len(extraBytes) > 0 {
+		node.ExtraOpaqueData = extraBytes
+	}
+
 	return node, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/graph/db/sql_store.go b/graph/db/sql_store.go
index 66a59af80..1ca00442a 100644
--- a/graph/db/sql_store.go
+++ b/graph/db/sql_store.go
@@ -494,10 +494,9 @@ func buildNode(ctx context.Context, db SQLQueries, dbNode *sqlc.Node) (
 	copy(pub[:], dbNode.PubKey)
 
 	node := &models.LightningNode{
-		PubKeyBytes:     pub,
-		Features:        lnwire.EmptyFeatureVector(),
-		LastUpdate:      time.Unix(0, 0),
-		ExtraOpaqueData: make([]byte, 0),
+		PubKeyBytes: pub,
+		Features:    lnwire.EmptyFeatureVector(),
+		LastUpdate:  time.Unix(0, 0),
 	}
 
 	if len(dbNode.Signature) == 0 {