diff --git a/migration/vmstate.c b/migration/vmstate.c
index 52704c822c..82bd005a83 100644
--- a/migration/vmstate.c
+++ b/migration/vmstate.c
@@ -425,15 +425,19 @@ int vmstate_save_state_v(QEMUFile *f, const VMStateDescription *vmsd,
             int size = vmstate_size(opaque, field);
             uint64_t old_offset, written_bytes;
             JSONWriter *vmdesc_loop = vmdesc;
+            bool is_prev_null = false;
 
             trace_vmstate_save_state_loop(vmsd->name, field->name, n_elems);
             if (field->flags & VMS_POINTER) {
                 first_elem = *(void **)first_elem;
                 assert(first_elem || !n_elems || !size);
             }
+
             for (i = 0; i < n_elems; i++) {
                 void *curr_elem = first_elem + size * i;
                 const VMStateField *inner_field;
+                bool is_null;
+                int max_elems = n_elems - i;
 
                 old_offset = qemu_file_transferred(f);
                 if (field->flags & VMS_ARRAY_OF_POINTER) {
@@ -448,12 +452,39 @@ int vmstate_save_state_v(QEMUFile *f, const VMStateDescription *vmsd,
                      * not follow.
                      */
                     inner_field = vmsd_create_fake_nullptr_field(field);
+                    is_null = true;
                 } else {
                     inner_field = field;
+                    is_null = false;
+                }
+
+                /*
+                 * Due to the fake nullptr handling above, if there's mixed
+                 * null/non-null data, it doesn't make sense to emit a
+                 * compressed array representation spanning the entire array
+                 * because the field types will be different (e.g. struct
+                 * vs. nullptr). Search ahead for the next null/non-null element
+                 * and start a new compressed array if found.
+                 */
+                if (field->flags & VMS_ARRAY_OF_POINTER &&
+                    is_null != is_prev_null) {
+
+                    is_prev_null = is_null;
+                    vmdesc_loop = vmdesc;
+
+                    for (int j = i + 1; j < n_elems; j++) {
+                        void *elem = *(void **)(first_elem + size * j);
+                        bool elem_is_null = !elem && size;
+
+                        if (is_null != elem_is_null) {
+                            max_elems = j - i;
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
 
                 vmsd_desc_field_start(vmsd, vmdesc_loop, inner_field,
-                                      i, n_elems);
+                                      i, max_elems);
 
                 if (inner_field->flags & VMS_STRUCT) {
                     ret = vmstate_save_state(f, inner_field->vmsd,
diff --git a/scripts/analyze-migration.py b/scripts/analyze-migration.py
index 923f174f1b..8e1fbf4c9d 100755
--- a/scripts/analyze-migration.py
+++ b/scripts/analyze-migration.py
@@ -502,15 +502,25 @@ class VMSDFieldStruct(VMSDFieldGeneric):
             field['data'] = reader(field, self.file)
             field['data'].read()
 
-            if 'index' in field:
-                if field['name'] not in self.data:
-                    self.data[field['name']] = []
-                a = self.data[field['name']]
-                if len(a) != int(field['index']):
-                    raise Exception("internal index of data field unmatched (%d/%d)" % (len(a), int(field['index'])))
-                a.append(field['data'])
+            fname = field['name']
+            fdata = field['data']
+
+            # The field could be:
+            # i) a single data entry, e.g. uint64
+            # ii) an array, indicated by it containing the 'index' key
+            #
+            # However, the overall data after parsing the whole
+            # stream, could be a mix of arrays and single data fields,
+            # all sharing the same field name due to how QEMU breaks
+            # up arrays with NULL pointers into multiple compressed
+            # array segments.
+            if fname not in self.data:
+                self.data[fname] = fdata
+            elif type(self.data[fname]) == list:
+                self.data[fname].append(fdata)
             else:
-                self.data[field['name']] = field['data']
+                tmp = self.data[fname]
+                self.data[fname] = [tmp, fdata]
 
         if 'subsections' in self.desc['struct']:
             for subsection in self.desc['struct']['subsections']: