diff --git a/mteb/leaderboard/app.py b/mteb/leaderboard/app.py
index e3833b5ce3..3d16873a87 100644
--- a/mteb/leaderboard/app.py
+++ b/mteb/leaderboard/app.py
@@ -579,11 +579,17 @@ def update_task_list(
             for task in mteb.get_benchmark(benchmark_name).tasks:
                 if task.metadata.type not in type_select:
                     continue
-                if not (set(task.metadata.domains or []) & set(domain_select)):
+                if task.metadata.domains is not None and not (
+                    set(task.metadata.domains) & set(domain_select)
+                ):
                     continue
-                if not (set(task.languages or []) & set(lang_select)):
+                if task.languages is not None and not (
+                    set(task.languages) & set(lang_select)
+                ):
                     continue
-                if not (set(task.metadata.modalities or []) & set(modality_select)):
+                if task.metadata.modalities and not (
+                    set(task.metadata.modalities) & set(modality_select)
+                ):
                     continue
                 tasks_to_keep.append(task.metadata.name)
             elapsed = time.time() - start_time