Don't leave empty dict containers behind when nested properties are set to None

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 
 ### Fixed
 - Raise a clear `ValueError` when an unsupported marginal plot type is passed to Plotly Express, instead of failing later with a cryptic `'NoneType' object has no attribute 'constructor'` message [[#5625](https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py/pull/5625)], with thanks to @eugen-goebel for the contribution!
+- Stop emitting leftover empty `{}` containers when a nested property is set to `None`, which could make a later `Plotly.restyle` of `marker.colorbar` attributes collapse the scatter-matrix layout [[#5615](https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py/issues/5615)]
 
 
 ## [6.8.0] - 2026-06-03

plotly/basedatatypes.py

@@ -1904,21 +1904,32 @@ def _set_in(d, key_path_str, v):
         # This variable will be assigned to the parent of the next key path
         # element currently being processed
         val_parent = d
+        parents = []
 
         # Initialize parent dict or list of value to be assigned
         # -----------------------------------------------------
         for kp, key_path_el in enumerate(key_path[:-1]):
             # Extend val_parent list if needed
             if isinstance(val_parent, list) and isinstance(key_path_el, int):
+                if v is None and not 0 <= key_path_el < len(val_parent):
+                    return False
+
                 while len(val_parent) <= key_path_el:
                     val_parent.append(None)
 
             elif isinstance(val_parent, dict) and key_path_el not in val_parent:
+                if v is None:
+                    return False
+
                 if isinstance(key_path[kp + 1], int):
                     val_parent[key_path_el] = []
                 else:
                     val_parent[key_path_el] = {}
 
+            elif not isinstance(val_parent, (dict, list)) and v is None:
+                return False
+
+            parents.append((val_parent, key_path_el))
             val_parent = val_parent[key_path_el]
 
         # Assign value to final parent dict or list
@@ -1945,6 +1956,16 @@ def _set_in(d, key_path_str, v):
                     # we can pop the key, which alters parent
                     val_parent.pop(last_key)
                     val_changed = True
+
+                    for parent, key in reversed(parents):
+                        child = parent[key]
+                        if isinstance(child, dict) and not child:
+                            if isinstance(parent, dict):
+                                parent.pop(key)
+                            else:
+                                break
+                        else:
+                            break
             elif isinstance(val_parent, list):
                 if isinstance(last_key, int) and 0 <= last_key < len(val_parent):
                     # Parent is a list and last_key is a valid index so we
@@ -4607,6 +4628,28 @@ def _init_child_props(self, child):
         else:
             raise ValueError("Invalid child with name: %s" % child.plotly_name)
 
+    def _prune_empty_child_props(self, child):
+        """
+        Remove a compound child's properties dict if it is empty.
+
+        Compound array elements can rely on empty dict placeholders for index
+        position, so this only prunes scalar compound properties.
+        """
+        if (
+            child.plotly_name in self._compound_props
+            and self._compound_props[child.plotly_name] is child
+            and self._props is not None
+            and self._props.get(child.plotly_name) == {}
+        ):
+            self._props.pop(child.plotly_name)
+
+            if (
+                not self._props
+                and self.parent is not None
+                and isinstance(self.parent, BasePlotlyType)
+            ):
+                self.parent._prune_empty_child_props(self)
+
     def _get_child_prop_defaults(self, child):
         """
         Return default properties dict for child
@@ -5287,6 +5330,14 @@ def _set_prop(self, prop, val):
                 # Send property update message
                 self._send_prop_set(prop, val)
 
+                if (
+                    not self._in_batch_mode
+                    and not self._props
+                    and self.parent is not None
+                    and isinstance(self.parent, BasePlotlyType)
+                ):
+                    self.parent._prune_empty_child_props(self)
+
         # val is valid value
         # ------------------
         else:

tests/test_core/test_figure_messages/test_plotly_restyle.py

@@ -82,3 +82,34 @@ def test_plotly_restyle_multi_trace(self):
         self.figure._send_restyle_msg.assert_called_once_with(
             {"marker": {"color": "green"}, "name": "MARKER 1"}, trace_indexes=[0, 1]
         )
+
+    def test_plotly_restyle_nested_none_does_not_create_empty_parents(self):
+        figure = go.Figure(data=[go.Splom()])
+        figure._send_restyle_msg = MagicMock()
+        expected = figure.to_plotly_json()
+
+        figure.plotly_restyle({"marker.colorbar.thicknessmode": None}, trace_indexes=0)
+
+        assert figure.to_plotly_json() == expected
+        figure._send_restyle_msg.assert_not_called()
+
+    def test_property_assignment_nested_none_prunes_empty_parents(self):
+        figure = go.Figure(
+            data=[
+                go.Splom(
+                    dimensions=[{"values": [1, 2]}, {"values": [3, 4]}],
+                    marker={
+                        "color": [1, 2],
+                        "colorbar": {"thicknessmode": "pixels"},
+                    },
+                )
+            ]
+        )
+        figure._send_restyle_msg = MagicMock()
+
+        figure.data[0].marker.colorbar.thicknessmode = None
+
+        assert figure.to_plotly_json()["data"][0]["marker"] == {"color": [1, 2]}
+        figure._send_restyle_msg.assert_called_once_with(
+            {"marker.colorbar.thicknessmode": [None]}, trace_indexes=0
+        )