diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableMetadataParser.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableMetadataParser.java
index ba8f2f78c5e9..4ac0364a15f2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableMetadataParser.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableMetadataParser.java
@@ -216,11 +216,9 @@ public static void toJson(TableMetadata metadata, JsonGenerator generator) throw
     // write properties map
     JsonUtil.writeStringMap(PROPERTIES, metadata.properties(), generator);
 
-    if (metadata.currentSnapshot() != null) {
-      generator.writeNumberField(CURRENT_SNAPSHOT_ID, metadata.currentSnapshot().snapshotId());
-    } else {
-      generator.writeNullField(CURRENT_SNAPSHOT_ID);
-    }
+    generator.writeNumberField(
+        CURRENT_SNAPSHOT_ID,
+        metadata.currentSnapshot() != null ? metadata.currentSnapshot().snapshotId() : -1);
 
     if (metadata.rowLineageEnabled()) {
       generator.writeBooleanField(ROW_LINEAGE, metadata.rowLineageEnabled());
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/responses/TestLoadTableResponseParser.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/responses/TestLoadTableResponseParser.java
index b4879dd39f51..cc6f4cfc74d7 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/responses/TestLoadTableResponseParser.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/responses/TestLoadTableResponseParser.java
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ public void roundTripSerde() {
                 + "      \"fields\" : [ ]\n"
                 + "    } ],\n"
                 + "    \"properties\" : { },\n"
-                + "    \"current-snapshot-id\" : null,\n"
+                + "    \"current-snapshot-id\" : -1,\n"
                 + "    \"refs\" : { },\n"
                 + "    \"snapshots\" : [ ],\n"
                 + "    \"statistics\" : [ ],\n"
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ public void roundTripSerdeWithConfig() {
                 + "      \"fields\" : [ ]\n"
                 + "    } ],\n"
                 + "    \"properties\" : { },\n"
-                + "    \"current-snapshot-id\" : null,\n"
+                + "    \"current-snapshot-id\" : -1,\n"
                 + "    \"refs\" : { },\n"
                 + "    \"snapshots\" : [ ],\n"
                 + "    \"statistics\" : [ ],\n"
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ public void roundTripSerdeWithCredentials() {
                 + "      \"fields\" : [ ]\n"
                 + "    } ],\n"
                 + "    \"properties\" : { },\n"
-                + "    \"current-snapshot-id\" : null,\n"
+                + "    \"current-snapshot-id\" : -1,\n"
                 + "    \"refs\" : { },\n"
                 + "    \"snapshots\" : [ ],\n"
                 + "    \"statistics\" : [ ],\n"