diff --git a/audit/api/model.go b/audit/api/model.go
index 50fc3b2..4e80019 100644
--- a/audit/api/model.go
+++ b/audit/api/model.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ type Request struct {
 
 type RequestUrl struct {
 	Path     string
-	RawQuery string
+	RawQuery *string
 }
 
 // AuditRequest bundles request related parameters
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ func NewAuditLogEntry(
 	// Get response body
 	responseBody, err := NewResponseBody(auditResponse.ResponseBodyBytes)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, ErrInvalidResponse
+		return nil, errors.Join(err, ErrInvalidResponse)
 	}
 	var responseLength *int64 = nil
 	if responseBody != nil {
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ func NewAuditLogEntry(
 	// Get request body
 	requestBody, err := NewRequestBody(auditRequest.Request)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, ErrInvalidRequestBody
+		return nil, errors.Join(err, ErrInvalidRequestBody)
 	}
 
 	// Get audit attributes from request
@@ -454,8 +454,8 @@ func NewRequestAttributes(
 
 	rawQuery := request.URL.RawQuery
 	var query *string = nil
-	if rawQuery != "" {
-		escapedQuery := url.QueryEscape(rawQuery)
+	if rawQuery != nil && *rawQuery != "" {
+		escapedQuery := url.QueryEscape(*rawQuery)
 		query = &escapedQuery
 	}
 
@@ -725,7 +725,7 @@ func parseClaimsFromAuthorizationHeader(authorizationHeader string) (map[string]
 		// base64 decoding
 		decodedString, err := base64.RawURLEncoding.DecodeString(authorizationHeaderParts[1])
 		if err != nil {
-			return parsedClaims, nil, ErrInvalidBearerToken
+			return parsedClaims, nil, errors.Join(err, ErrInvalidBearerToken)
 		}
 
 		// unmarshall claim part of token
diff --git a/audit/api/model_test.go b/audit/api/model_test.go
index e2df7aa..d98c3b3 100644
--- a/audit/api/model_test.go
+++ b/audit/api/model_test.go
@@ -154,9 +154,10 @@ func Test_NewRequestMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 	requestHeaders["User-Agent"] = []string{userAgent}
 	requestHeaders["Custom"] = []string{"customHeader"}
 
+	queryString := "topic=project"
 	request := Request{
 		Method: "GET",
-		URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: "topic=project"},
+		URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: &queryString},
 		Host:   "localhost:8080",
 		Proto:  "HTTP/1.1",
 		Scheme: "http",
@@ -220,7 +221,33 @@ func Test_NewRequestMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("without query parameters", func(t *testing.T) {
 		request := Request{
 			Method: "GET",
-			URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: ""},
+			URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new"},
+			Host:   "localhost:8080",
+			Proto:  "HTTP/1.1",
+			Header: requestHeaders,
+		}
+
+		requestMetadata := NewRequestMetadata(
+			&request,
+			filteredHeaders,
+			&requestId,
+			requestScheme,
+			requestTime,
+			clientIp,
+			authenticationPrincipal,
+			audiences,
+			auditClaims,
+		)
+
+		verifyRequestMetadata(requestMetadata, &requestId)
+		assert.Nil(t, requestMetadata.RequestAttributes.Query)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("with empty query parameters", func(t *testing.T) {
+		emptyQuery := ""
+		request := Request{
+			Method: "GET",
+			URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: &emptyQuery},
 			Host:   "localhost:8080",
 			Proto:  "HTTP/1.1",
 			Header: requestHeaders,
@@ -245,7 +272,7 @@ func Test_NewRequestMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("without request id", func(t *testing.T) {
 		request := Request{
 			Method: "GET",
-			URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: "topic=project"},
+			URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: &queryString},
 			Host:   "localhost:8080",
 			Proto:  "HTTP/1.1",
 			Header: requestHeaders,
@@ -269,7 +296,7 @@ func Test_NewRequestMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 		for _, httpMethod := range httpMethods {
 			request := Request{
 				Method: httpMethod,
-				URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: "topic=project"},
+				URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: &queryString},
 				Host:   "localhost:8080",
 				Proto:  "HTTP/1.1",
 				Header: requestHeaders,
@@ -293,7 +320,7 @@ func Test_NewRequestMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("unknown http method", func(t *testing.T) {
 		request := Request{
 			Method: "",
-			URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: "topic=project"},
+			URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: &queryString},
 			Host:   "localhost:8080",
 			Proto:  "HTTP/1.1",
 			Header: requestHeaders,
@@ -678,9 +705,10 @@ func Test_NewAuditLogEntry(t *testing.T) {
 		requestBody := make(map[string]interface{})
 		requestBody["key"] = "request"
 		requestBodyBytes, _ := json.Marshal(requestBody)
+		query := "topic=project"
 		request := Request{
 			Method: "GET",
-			URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: "topic=project"},
+			URL:    RequestUrl{Path: "/audit/new", RawQuery: &query},
 			Host:   "localhost:8080",
 			Proto:  "HTTP/1.1",
 			Scheme: "http",