diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JSONOptions.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JSONOptions.scala
index dc26a28c74f11..e7bfb77e46c26 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JSONOptions.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JSONOptions.scala
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.{JsonFactory, JsonParser}
 
 import org.apache.spark.internal.Logging
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util._
+import org.apache.spark.sql.internal.SQLConf
 
 /**
  * Options for parsing JSON data into Spark SQL rows.
@@ -76,6 +77,10 @@ private[sql] class JSONOptions(
   // Whether to ignore column of all null values or empty array/struct during schema inference
   val dropFieldIfAllNull = parameters.get("dropFieldIfAllNull").map(_.toBoolean).getOrElse(false)
 
+  // Whether to ignore null fields during json generating
+  val ignoreNullFields = parameters.getOrElse("ignoreNullFields",
+    SQLConf.get.jsonGeneratorIgnoreNullFields).toBoolean
+
   // A language tag in IETF BCP 47 format
   val locale: Locale = parameters.get("locale").map(Locale.forLanguageTag).getOrElse(Locale.US)
 
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JacksonGenerator.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JacksonGenerator.scala
index 3ee7e484690d5..aaf2ecf7923ce 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JacksonGenerator.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JacksonGenerator.scala
@@ -184,6 +184,9 @@ private[sql] class JacksonGenerator(
       if (!row.isNullAt(i)) {
         gen.writeFieldName(field.name)
         fieldWriters(i).apply(row, i)
+      } else if (!options.ignoreNullFields) {
+        gen.writeFieldName(field.name)
+        gen.writeNull()
       }
       i += 1
     }
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala
index 0ec661fc16c88..69d5a552c611c 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala
@@ -1153,6 +1153,12 @@ object SQLConf {
     .booleanConf
     .createWithDefault(true)
 
+  val JSON_GENERATOR_IGNORE_NULL_FIELDS =
+    buildConf("spark.sql.jsonGenerator.ignoreNullFields")
+      .doc("If false, JacksonGenerator will generate null for null fields in Struct.")
+      .stringConf
+      .createWithDefault("true")
+
   val FILE_SINK_LOG_DELETION = buildConf("spark.sql.streaming.fileSink.log.deletion")
     .internal()
     .doc("Whether to delete the expired log files in file stream sink.")
@@ -2323,6 +2329,8 @@ class SQLConf extends Serializable with Logging {
 
   def sessionLocalTimeZone: String = getConf(SQLConf.SESSION_LOCAL_TIMEZONE)
 
+  def jsonGeneratorIgnoreNullFields: String = getConf(SQLConf.JSON_GENERATOR_IGNORE_NULL_FIELDS)
+
   def parallelFileListingInStatsComputation: Boolean =
     getConf(SQLConf.PARALLEL_FILE_LISTING_IN_STATS_COMPUTATION)
 
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JacksonGeneratorSuite.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JacksonGeneratorSuite.scala
index 9b27490ed0e35..2bb948ec24fb3 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JacksonGeneratorSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/json/JacksonGeneratorSuite.scala
@@ -39,6 +39,33 @@ class JacksonGeneratorSuite extends SparkFunSuite {
     assert(writer.toString === """{"a":1}""")
   }
 
+  test("SPARK-29444: initial with StructType and write out an empty row " +
+      "with ignoreNullFields=false") {
+    val dataType = StructType(StructField("a", IntegerType) :: Nil)
+    val input = InternalRow(null)
+    val writer = new CharArrayWriter()
+    val allowNullOption =
+      new JSONOptions(Map("ignoreNullFields" -> "false"), gmtId)
+    val gen = new JacksonGenerator(dataType, writer, allowNullOption)
+    gen.write(input)
+    gen.flush()
+    assert(writer.toString === """{"a":null}""")
+  }
+
+  test("SPARK-29444: initial with StructType field and write out a row " +
+    "with ignoreNullFields=false and struct inner null") {
+    val fieldType = StructType(StructField("b", IntegerType) :: Nil)
+    val dataType = StructType(StructField("a", fieldType) :: Nil)
+    val input = InternalRow(InternalRow(null))
+    val writer = new CharArrayWriter()
+    val allowNullOption =
+      new JSONOptions(Map("ignoreNullFields" -> "false"), gmtId)
+    val gen = new JacksonGenerator(dataType, writer, allowNullOption)
+    gen.write(input)
+    gen.flush()
+    assert(writer.toString === """{"a":{"b":null}}""")
+  }
+
   test("initial with StructType and write out rows") {
     val dataType = StructType(StructField("a", IntegerType) :: Nil)
     val input = new GenericArrayData(InternalRow(1) :: InternalRow(2) :: Nil)