diff --git a/auth/credentials/detect.go b/auth/credentials/detect.go
index cfa0c88f8105..2d9a73edf365 100644
--- a/auth/credentials/detect.go
+++ b/auth/credentials/detect.go
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ func DetectDefault(opts *DetectOptions) (*auth.Credentials, error) {
 	if err := opts.validate(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if opts.CredentialsJSON != nil {
+	if len(opts.CredentialsJSON) > 0 {
 		return readCredentialsFileJSON(opts.CredentialsJSON, opts)
 	}
 	if opts.CredentialsFile != "" {
diff --git a/auth/credentials/idtoken/idtoken.go b/auth/credentials/idtoken/idtoken.go
index fc26505547e0..2c1ad6004aec 100644
--- a/auth/credentials/idtoken/idtoken.go
+++ b/auth/credentials/idtoken/idtoken.go
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ func NewCredentials(opts *Options) (*auth.Credentials, error) {
 }
 
 func (o *Options) jsonBytes() []byte {
-	if o.CredentialsJSON != nil {
+	if len(o.CredentialsJSON) > 0 {
 		return o.CredentialsJSON
 	}
 	var fnOverride string
diff --git a/auth/internal/transport/transport.go b/auth/internal/transport/transport.go
index 2e2451c57645..718a6b171458 100644
--- a/auth/internal/transport/transport.go
+++ b/auth/internal/transport/transport.go
@@ -53,11 +53,11 @@ func CloneDetectOptions(oldDo *credentials.DetectOptions) *credentials.DetectOpt
 	}
 
 	// Smartly size this memory and copy below.
-	if oldDo.CredentialsJSON != nil {
+	if len(oldDo.CredentialsJSON) > 0 {
 		newDo.CredentialsJSON = make([]byte, len(oldDo.CredentialsJSON))
 		copy(newDo.CredentialsJSON, oldDo.CredentialsJSON)
 	}
-	if oldDo.Scopes != nil {
+	if len(oldDo.Scopes) > 0 {
 		newDo.Scopes = make([]string, len(oldDo.Scopes))
 		copy(newDo.Scopes, oldDo.Scopes)
 	}