diff --git a/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/rest/server/CommandTopicBackupImpl.java b/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/rest/server/CommandTopicBackupImpl.java
index 3a385f0cc6d7..9ed71fcc5c01 100644
--- a/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/rest/server/CommandTopicBackupImpl.java
+++ b/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/rest/server/CommandTopicBackupImpl.java
@@ -132,6 +132,14 @@ public void writeRecord(final ConsumerRecord<byte[], byte[]> record) {
           "Failed to write record due to out of sync command topic and backup file: " + record);
     }
 
+    if (record.key() == null || record.value() == null) {
+      LOG.warn(String.format("Can't backup a command topic record with a null key/value:"
+              + " key=%s, value=%s, partition=%d, offset=%d",
+          record.key(), record.value(), record.partition(), record.offset()));
+
+      return;
+    }
+
     if (isRestoring()) {
       if (isRecordInLatestReplay(record)) {
         // Ignore backup because record was already replayed
@@ -148,7 +156,7 @@ public void writeRecord(final ConsumerRecord<byte[], byte[]> record) {
 
     try {
       replayFile.write(record);
-    } catch (final IOException e) {
+    } catch (final Exception e) {
       LOG.warn("Failed to write to file {}. The command topic backup is not complete. "
               + "Make sure the file exists and has permissions to write. KSQL must be restarted "
               + "afterwards to complete the backup process. Error = {}",
diff --git a/ksqldb-rest-app/src/test/java/io/confluent/ksql/rest/server/CommandTopicBackupImplTest.java b/ksqldb-rest-app/src/test/java/io/confluent/ksql/rest/server/CommandTopicBackupImplTest.java
index e8decd076aeb..1f766016d391 100644
--- a/ksqldb-rest-app/src/test/java/io/confluent/ksql/rest/server/CommandTopicBackupImplTest.java
+++ b/ksqldb-rest-app/src/test/java/io/confluent/ksql/rest/server/CommandTopicBackupImplTest.java
@@ -162,6 +162,40 @@ public void shouldCreateBackupLocationWhenDoesNotExist() throws IOException {
     assertThat(Files.exists(dir), is(true));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void shouldNotFailIfRecordKeyIsNull() throws IOException {
+    // Given
+    commandTopicBackup.initialize();
+    final ConsumerRecord<byte[], byte[]> record =
+        (ConsumerRecord<byte[], byte[]>) mock(ConsumerRecord.class);
+    when(record.key()).thenReturn(null);
+    when(record.value()).thenReturn(new byte[]{});
+
+    // When
+    commandTopicBackup.writeRecord(record);
+
+    // Then
+    final List<Pair<byte[], byte[]>> commands = commandTopicBackup.getReplayFile().readRecords();
+    assertThat(commands.size(), is(0));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void shouldNotFailIfRecordValueIsNull() throws IOException {
+    // Given
+    commandTopicBackup.initialize();
+    final ConsumerRecord<byte[], byte[]> record =
+        (ConsumerRecord<byte[], byte[]>) mock(ConsumerRecord.class);
+    when(record.key()).thenReturn(new byte[]{});
+    when(record.value()).thenReturn(null);
+
+    // When
+    commandTopicBackup.writeRecord(record);
+
+    // Then
+    final List<Pair<byte[], byte[]>> commands = commandTopicBackup.getReplayFile().readRecords();
+    assertThat(commands.size(), is(0));
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void shouldWriteCommandToBackupToReplayFile() throws IOException {
     // Given