diff --git a/src/cpr_sdk/parser_models.py b/src/cpr_sdk/parser_models.py
index 9f48c3f..d5fcfb9 100644
--- a/src/cpr_sdk/parser_models.py
+++ b/src/cpr_sdk/parser_models.py
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ def from_flat_json(data: dict):
 
         return ParserOutput.model_validate(unflattened)
 
-    def to_passage_level_json(self) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
+    def to_passage_level_json(self, include_empty: bool = True) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
         """
         Convert the parser output to a passage-level JSON format.
 
@@ -394,8 +394,13 @@ def to_passage_level_json(self) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
         model_dump_json method and then reloading with json.load is as objects like
         Enums and child pydantic objects persist when using the model_dump method.
         We don't want these when we push to huggingface.
+
+        :param include_empty: Whether to output the document metadata if there are no
+        text blocks in the ParserOutput. If True, outputs a single dict with None values
+        for each text block related field. If False, returns an empty list.
         """
-        if self.text_blocks is None:
+
+        if not self.text_blocks and not include_empty:
             return []
 
         fixed_fields_dict = json.loads(
@@ -407,6 +412,19 @@ def to_passage_level_json(self) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
             )
         )
 
+        empty_html_text_block_keys: list[str] = list(HTMLTextBlock.model_fields.keys())
+        empty_pdf_text_block_keys: list[str] = list(PDFTextBlock.model_fields.keys())
+
+        if not self.text_blocks:
+            passages_array_filled = [
+                {key: None for key in empty_html_text_block_keys}
+                | {key: None for key in empty_pdf_text_block_keys}
+                | fixed_fields_dict
+                | {"block_index": 0, PDF_PAGE_METADATA_KEY: None}
+            ]
+
+            return passages_array_filled
+
         passages_array = [
             fixed_fields_dict
             | json.loads(block.model_dump_json(exclude={"text"}))
@@ -422,9 +440,6 @@ def to_passage_level_json(self) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
                 else None
             )
 
-        empty_html_text_block_keys: list[str] = list(HTMLTextBlock.model_fields.keys())
-        empty_pdf_text_block_keys: list[str] = list(PDFTextBlock.model_fields.keys())
-
         passages_array_filled = []
         for passage in passages_array:
             for key in empty_html_text_block_keys:
diff --git a/tests/test_parser_models.py b/tests/test_parser_models.py
index 0fbc148..1da4384 100644
--- a/tests/test_parser_models.py
+++ b/tests/test_parser_models.py
@@ -160,11 +160,21 @@ def test_parser_output_object(
     parser_output = ParserOutput.from_flat_json(parser_output_json_flat)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("null_text_blocks", [True, False])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("include_empty_text_blocks", [True, False])
 def test_to_passage_level_json_method(
     parser_output_json_pdf: dict,
     parser_output_json_html: dict,
+    null_text_blocks: bool,
+    include_empty_text_blocks: bool,
 ) -> None:
-    """Test that we can successfully create a passage level array from the text blocks."""
+    """
+    Test that we can successfully create a passage level array from the text blocks.
+
+    :param null_text_blocks: Whether to set the text blocks to None in the parser output
+    :param include_empty_text_blocks: The setting for the `include_empty_text_blocks`
+    kwarg in the `to_passage_level_json` method
+    """
     expected_top_level_fields = set(
         list(TextBlock.model_fields.keys())
         + list(HTMLTextBlock.model_fields.keys())
@@ -184,13 +194,34 @@ def test_to_passage_level_json_method(
         expected_pdf_data_fields.remove(field)
 
     parser_output_pdf = ParserOutput.model_validate(parser_output_json_pdf)
-    passage_level_array_pdf = parser_output_pdf.to_passage_level_json()
-
+    assert parser_output_pdf.pdf_data is not None
     parser_output_html = ParserOutput.model_validate(parser_output_json_html)
-    passage_level_array_html = parser_output_html.to_passage_level_json()
+    assert parser_output_html.html_data is not None
+
+    if null_text_blocks:
+        parser_output_pdf.pdf_data.text_blocks = []
+        parser_output_html.html_data.text_blocks = []
+
+    passage_level_array_pdf = parser_output_pdf.to_passage_level_json(
+        include_empty=include_empty_text_blocks
+    )
+    passage_level_array_html = parser_output_html.to_passage_level_json(
+        include_empty=include_empty_text_blocks
+    )
+
+    if null_text_blocks:
+        if include_empty_text_blocks:
+            assert len(passage_level_array_pdf) == 1
+            assert len(passage_level_array_html) == 1
+        else:
+            assert len(passage_level_array_pdf) == 0
+            assert len(passage_level_array_html) == 0
 
-    assert len(passage_level_array_pdf) == len(parser_output_pdf.text_blocks)
-    assert len(passage_level_array_html) == len(parser_output_html.text_blocks)
+            # the resulting output is [] so we can stop the test here
+            return
+    else:
+        assert len(passage_level_array_pdf) == len(parser_output_pdf.text_blocks)
+        assert len(passage_level_array_html) == len(parser_output_html.text_blocks)
 
     for passage_level_array in [passage_level_array_pdf, passage_level_array_html]:
         first_doc_keys = set(passage_level_array[0].keys())
@@ -204,7 +235,8 @@ def test_to_passage_level_json_method(
             )
 
             if passage["document_content_type"] == CONTENT_TYPE_PDF:
-                assert passage[PDF_PAGE_METADATA_KEY] is not None
+                if not (null_text_blocks and include_empty_text_blocks):
+                    assert passage[PDF_PAGE_METADATA_KEY] is not None
                 assert set(passage["pdf_data"].keys()) == expected_pdf_data_fields
             elif passage["document_content_type"] == CONTENT_TYPE_HTML:
                 assert set(passage["html_data"].keys()) == expected_html_data_fields