diff --git a/internal/quic/qlog/json_writer.go b/internal/quic/qlog/json_writer.go
index b2fa3e03e..6fb8d33b2 100644
--- a/internal/quic/qlog/json_writer.go
+++ b/internal/quic/qlog/json_writer.go
@@ -45,15 +45,15 @@ func (w *jsonWriter) writeRecordEnd() {
 func (w *jsonWriter) writeAttrs(attrs []slog.Attr) {
 	w.buf.WriteByte('{')
 	for _, a := range attrs {
-		if a.Key == "" {
-			continue
-		}
 		w.writeAttr(a)
 	}
 	w.buf.WriteByte('}')
 }
 
 func (w *jsonWriter) writeAttr(a slog.Attr) {
+	if a.Key == "" {
+		return
+	}
 	w.writeName(a.Key)
 	w.writeValue(a.Value)
 }
diff --git a/internal/quic/qlog/json_writer_test.go b/internal/quic/qlog/json_writer_test.go
index 6da556641..03cf6947c 100644
--- a/internal/quic/qlog/json_writer_test.go
+++ b/internal/quic/qlog/json_writer_test.go
@@ -85,6 +85,15 @@ func TestJSONWriterAttrs(t *testing.T) {
 			`}}`)
 }
 
+func TestJSONWriterAttrEmpty(t *testing.T) {
+	w := newTestJSONWriter()
+	w.writeRecordStart()
+	var a slog.Attr
+	w.writeAttr(a)
+	w.writeRecordEnd()
+	wantJSONRecord(t, w, `{}`)
+}
+
 func TestJSONWriterObjectEmpty(t *testing.T) {
 	w := newTestJSONWriter()
 	w.writeRecordStart()