diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/env/OriginTrackedYamlLoader.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/env/OriginTrackedYamlLoader.java
index 0eef7864dae..9082c5034fa 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/env/OriginTrackedYamlLoader.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/env/OriginTrackedYamlLoader.java
@@ -29,11 +29,11 @@ import org.yaml.snakeyaml.constructor.BaseConstructor;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.constructor.Constructor;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.constructor.SafeConstructor;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.error.Mark;
-import org.yaml.snakeyaml.nodes.CollectionNode;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.nodes.MappingNode;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.nodes.Node;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.nodes.NodeTuple;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.nodes.ScalarNode;
+import org.yaml.snakeyaml.nodes.SequenceNode;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.nodes.Tag;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.representer.Representer;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.resolver.Resolver;
@@ -105,8 +105,8 @@ class OriginTrackedYamlLoader extends YamlProcessor {
 
 		@Override
 		protected Object constructObject(Node node) {
-			if (node instanceof CollectionNode && ((CollectionNode<?>) node).getValue().isEmpty()) {
-				return constructTrackedObject(node, super.constructObject(node));
+			if (node instanceof SequenceNode sequenceNode && sequenceNode.getValue().isEmpty()) {
+				return constructTrackedObject(node, "");
 			}
 			if (node instanceof ScalarNode) {
 				if (!(node instanceof KeyScalarNode)) {
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/env/OriginTrackedYamlLoaderTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/env/OriginTrackedYamlLoaderTests.java
index ce5fa86434b..58720b00235 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/env/OriginTrackedYamlLoaderTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/env/OriginTrackedYamlLoaderTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2023 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2024 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 package org.springframework.boot.env;
 
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
-import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
@@ -115,18 +114,19 @@ class OriginTrackedYamlLoaderTests {
 	void processEmptyAndNullValues() {
 		OriginTrackedValue empty = getValue("empty");
 		OriginTrackedValue nullValue = getValue("null-value");
+		OriginTrackedValue emptyList = getValue("emptylist");
 		assertThat(empty.getValue()).isEqualTo("");
 		assertThat(getLocation(empty)).isEqualTo("27:8");
 		assertThat(nullValue.getValue()).isEqualTo("");
 		assertThat(getLocation(nullValue)).isEqualTo("28:13");
+		assertThat(emptyList.getValue()).isEqualTo("");
+		assertThat(getLocation(emptyList)).isEqualTo("29:12");
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	void processEmptyListAndMap() {
-		OriginTrackedValue emptymap = getValue("emptymap");
-		OriginTrackedValue emptylist = getValue("emptylist");
-		assertThat(emptymap.getValue()).isEqualTo(Collections.emptyMap());
-		assertThat(emptylist.getValue()).isEqualTo(Collections.emptyList());
+	void emptyMapsAreDropped() {
+		Object emptyMap = getValue("emptymap");
+		assertThat(emptyMap).isNull();
 	}
 
 	@Test
@@ -194,11 +194,12 @@ class OriginTrackedYamlLoaderTests {
 		assertThat(loaded).isNotEmpty();
 	}
 
-	private OriginTrackedValue getValue(String name) {
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	private <T> T getValue(String name) {
 		if (this.result == null) {
 			this.result = this.loader.load();
 		}
-		return (OriginTrackedValue) this.result.get(0).get(name);
+		return (T) this.result.get(0).get(name);
 	}
 
 	private String getLocation(OriginTrackedValue value) {