Why Isn't 0000-00-00 00:00:00 Converted to NULL in the Destination?

Question

Why isn't the special zero value 0000-00-00 00:00:00 converted to NULL in the destination?

Environment

Connector: MySQL

Answer

Fivetran preserves special zero values as-is. This behavior is intentional and stable.

Previously, zero-date values were handled inconsistently. During initial syncs, they could appear as incorrectly offset date values. During incremental syncs, they were typically set to NULL.

We do not provide a configuration option to automatically convert special zero values to NULL during syncs. To store these values as NULL, use one of the following options:

• Update the values to NULL in the source MySQL database before syncing.
• Convert the values after they are loaded into your destination using downstream transformations, such as dbt models or SQL views.