diff --git a/app/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/storage/impl/sql/AbstractSqlRegistryStorage.java b/app/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/storage/impl/sql/AbstractSqlRegistryStorage.java
index c985ea21fd..e53eac49fd 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/storage/impl/sql/AbstractSqlRegistryStorage.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/storage/impl/sql/AbstractSqlRegistryStorage.java
@@ -1081,12 +1081,12 @@ public ArtifactSearchResultsDto searchArtifacts(Set<SearchFilter> filters, Order
                         Pair<String, String> property = filter.getPropertyFilterValue();
                         //    Note: convert search to lowercase when searching for properties (case-insensitivity support).
                         String propKey = property.getKey().toLowerCase();
-                        String propValue = property.getValue().toLowerCase();
                         where.append("EXISTS(SELECT p.globalId FROM properties p WHERE p.pkey = ? ");
                         binders.add((query, idx) -> {
                             query.bind(idx, propKey);
                         });
-                        if (propValue != null) {
+                        if (property.getValue() != null) {
+                            String propValue = property.getValue().toLowerCase();
                             where.append("AND p.pvalue = ? ");
                             binders.add((query, idx) -> {
                                 query.bind(idx, propValue);
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index fd8ad34825..562d0bc9db 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@
         <wire-compiler.version>3.7.1</wire-compiler.version>
         <jimfs.version>1.1</jimfs.version>
         <icu4j.version>70.1</icu4j.version>
-        <protobuf.version>3.19.3</protobuf.version>
+        <protobuf.version>3.19.4</protobuf.version>
         <xmlsec.version>2.3.0</xmlsec.version>
         <protobuf.googleapi.types.version>2.7.2</protobuf.googleapi.types.version>
         <wsdl4j.version>1.6.3</wsdl4j.version>