diff --git a/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/domain/TechnicalEvaluationDTODeserializer.java b/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/domain/TechnicalEvaluationDTODeserializer.java
index 56b2089a..8c3ba665 100644
--- a/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/domain/TechnicalEvaluationDTODeserializer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/domain/TechnicalEvaluationDTODeserializer.java
@@ -14,9 +14,8 @@
 public class TechnicalEvaluationDTODeserializer extends UpdateOrDelete.Deserializer<TechnicalEvaluationDTO> {
     @Override
     protected TechnicalEvaluationDTO deserializeInner(JsonNode node) {
-        var requiresEvaluation = Optional.ofNullable(node.get("requiresEvaluation"))
-                .filter(JsonNode::isBoolean)
-                .map(JsonNode::booleanValue);
+        var requiresEvaluationNode = node.get("requiresEvaluation");
+        var requiresEvaluation = requiresEvaluationNode != null && requiresEvaluationNode.booleanValue();
         var comment = Optional.ofNullable(node.get("comment")).map(JsonNode::textValue);
         return new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(requiresEvaluation, comment);
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/rest/v1/commands/NodePostPut.java b/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/rest/v1/commands/NodePostPut.java
index f8f80a3b..15116198 100644
--- a/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/rest/v1/commands/NodePostPut.java
+++ b/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/rest/v1/commands/NodePostPut.java
@@ -119,10 +119,8 @@ public void apply(Node node) {
             node.setTechnicalEvaluationComment(Optional.empty());
         } else {
             this.technicalEvaluation.getValue().ifPresent(te -> {
-                te.requiresEvaluation().ifPresent(requiresEvaluation -> {
-                    node.setRequiresTechnicalEvaluation(Optional.of(requiresEvaluation));
-                    node.setTechnicalEvaluationComment(requiresEvaluation ? te.getComment() : Optional.empty());
-                });
+                node.setRequiresTechnicalEvaluation(Optional.of(te.requiresEvaluation()));
+                node.setTechnicalEvaluationComment(te.requiresEvaluation() ? te.getComment() : Optional.empty());
             });
         }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/service/dtos/TechnicalEvaluationDTO.java b/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/service/dtos/TechnicalEvaluationDTO.java
index 09b15bf4..45db2351 100644
--- a/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/service/dtos/TechnicalEvaluationDTO.java
+++ b/src/main/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/service/dtos/TechnicalEvaluationDTO.java
@@ -16,31 +16,28 @@
 public class TechnicalEvaluationDTO {
     @JsonProperty
     @Schema(description = "Whether this node requires a technical evaluation.")
-    private Optional<Boolean> requiresEvaluation = Optional.empty();
+    private boolean requiresEvaluation;
 
     @JsonProperty
     @Schema(description = "Notes for the technical evaluation of this node.")
     private Optional<String> comment = Optional.empty();
 
-    public TechnicalEvaluationDTO(Optional<Boolean> requiresEvaluation, Optional<String> comment) {
+    public TechnicalEvaluationDTO(boolean requiresEvaluation, Optional<String> comment) {
         this.requiresEvaluation = requiresEvaluation;
         this.comment = comment;
     }
 
     public static Optional<TechnicalEvaluationDTO> fromNode(Node node) {
-        if (node.requiresTechnicalEvaluation().isEmpty()
-                && node.getTechnicalEvaluationComment().isEmpty()) {
-            return Optional.empty();
-        }
-        return Optional.of(
-                new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(node.requiresTechnicalEvaluation(), node.getTechnicalEvaluationComment()));
+        return node.requiresTechnicalEvaluation()
+                .map(requiresEvaluation ->
+                        new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(requiresEvaluation, node.getTechnicalEvaluationComment()));
     }
 
-    public Optional<Boolean> requiresEvaluation() {
+    public boolean requiresEvaluation() {
         return requiresEvaluation;
     }
 
-    public void setRequiresEvaluation(Optional<Boolean> requiresEvaluation) {
+    public void setRequiresEvaluation(boolean requiresEvaluation) {
         this.requiresEvaluation = requiresEvaluation;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/rest/v1/NodesTest.java b/src/test/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/rest/v1/NodesTest.java
index 4140301b..c3558b14 100644
--- a/src/test/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/rest/v1/NodesTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/no/ndla/taxonomy/rest/v1/NodesTest.java
@@ -1854,8 +1854,8 @@ public void that_updating_requires_technical_evaluation_to_false_removes_comment
         var command = new NodePostPut() {
             {
                 nodeType = NodeType.TOPIC;
-                technicalEvaluation = UpdateOrDelete.Update(
-                        new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(Optional.of(true), Optional.of("Needs review")));
+                technicalEvaluation =
+                        UpdateOrDelete.Update(new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(true, Optional.of("Needs review")));
             }
         };
         var id = getId(testUtils.createResource("/v1/nodes", command));
@@ -1866,8 +1866,8 @@ public void that_updating_requires_technical_evaluation_to_false_removes_comment
 
         var command2 = new NodePostPut() {
             {
-                technicalEvaluation = UpdateOrDelete.Update(
-                        new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(Optional.of(false), Optional.of("Needs review")));
+                technicalEvaluation =
+                        UpdateOrDelete.Update(new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(false, Optional.of("Needs review")));
             }
         };
         testUtils.updateResource("/v1/nodes/" + id, command2);
@@ -1881,8 +1881,7 @@ public void that_technical_evluation_comment_can_be_updated() throws Exception {
         var command = new NodePostPut() {
             {
                 nodeType = NodeType.TOPIC;
-                technicalEvaluation =
-                        UpdateOrDelete.Update(new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(Optional.of(true), Optional.empty()));
+                technicalEvaluation = UpdateOrDelete.Update(new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(true, Optional.empty()));
             }
         };
         var id = getId(testUtils.createResource("/v1/nodes", command));
@@ -1893,8 +1892,8 @@ public void that_technical_evluation_comment_can_be_updated() throws Exception {
 
         var command2 = new NodePostPut() {
             {
-                technicalEvaluation = UpdateOrDelete.Update(
-                        new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(Optional.of(true), Optional.of("Needs review")));
+                technicalEvaluation =
+                        UpdateOrDelete.Update(new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(true, Optional.of("Needs review")));
             }
         };
         testUtils.updateResource("/v1/nodes/" + id, command2);
@@ -1909,8 +1908,8 @@ public void that_comment_cannot_be_set_without_requiring_technical_evaluation()
         var command = new NodePostPut() {
             {
                 nodeType = NodeType.TOPIC;
-                technicalEvaluation = UpdateOrDelete.Update(
-                        new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(Optional.of(false), Optional.of("Needs review")));
+                technicalEvaluation =
+                        UpdateOrDelete.Update(new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(false, Optional.of("Needs review")));
             }
         };
         var id = getId(testUtils.createResource("/v1/nodes", command));
@@ -1925,8 +1924,8 @@ public void that_technical_evaluation_is_included_in_node_response() throws Exce
         var command = new NodePostPut() {
             {
                 nodeType = NodeType.TOPIC;
-                technicalEvaluation = UpdateOrDelete.Update(
-                        new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(Optional.of(true), Optional.of("Needs review")));
+                technicalEvaluation =
+                        UpdateOrDelete.Update(new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(true, Optional.of("Needs review")));
             }
         };
         var id = getId(testUtils.createResource("/v1/nodes", command));
@@ -1935,34 +1934,10 @@ public void that_technical_evaluation_is_included_in_node_response() throws Exce
 
         var nodeDTO = testUtils.getObject(NodeDTO.class, response);
         var te = nodeDTO.getTechnicalEvaluation().orElseThrow();
-        assertTrue(te.requiresEvaluation().orElseThrow());
+        assertTrue(te.requiresEvaluation());
         assertEquals("Needs review", te.getComment().orElseThrow());
     }
 
-    @Test
-    public void that_setting_comment_with_empty_requires_evaluation_does_nothing() throws Exception {
-        var command = new NodePostPut() {
-            {
-                nodeType = NodeType.TOPIC;
-                technicalEvaluation =
-                        UpdateOrDelete.Update(new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(Optional.of(true), Optional.empty()));
-            }
-        };
-        var id = getId(testUtils.createResource("/v1/nodes", command));
-
-        var command2 = new NodePostPut() {
-            {
-                technicalEvaluation = UpdateOrDelete.Update(
-                        new TechnicalEvaluationDTO(Optional.empty(), Optional.of("Needs review")));
-            }
-        };
-        testUtils.updateResource("/v1/nodes/" + id, command2);
-
-        var found = nodeRepository.getByPublicId(id);
-        assertTrue(found.requiresTechnicalEvaluation().orElseThrow());
-        assertTrue(found.getTechnicalEvaluationComment().isEmpty());
-    }
-
     public void testQualityEvaluationAverage(Node inputNode, int expectedCount, double expectedAverage) {
         var node = nodeRepository.findFirstByPublicId(inputNode.getPublicId()).orElseThrow();
         var qe = node.getChildQualityEvaluationAverage().orElseThrow();