diff --git a/netbox/dcim/migrations/0095_primary_model_ordering.py b/netbox/dcim/migrations/0095_primary_model_ordering.py
index 7a04aa31d..9cef0a581 100644
--- a/netbox/dcim/migrations/0095_primary_model_ordering.py
+++ b/netbox/dcim/migrations/0095_primary_model_ordering.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class Migration(migrations.Migration):
         migrations.AddField(
             model_name='device',
             name='_name',
-            field=utilities.fields.NaturalOrderingField('target_field', blank=True, max_length=100, naturalize_function=utilities.ordering.naturalize),
+            field=utilities.fields.NaturalOrderingField('target_field', blank=True, max_length=100, naturalize_function=utilities.ordering.naturalize, null=True),
         ),
         migrations.AddField(
             model_name='rack',
@@ -56,12 +56,15 @@ class Migration(migrations.Migration):
             field=utilities.fields.NaturalOrderingField('target_field', blank=True, max_length=100, naturalize_function=utilities.ordering.naturalize),
         ),
         migrations.RunPython(
-            code=naturalize_sites
+            code=naturalize_sites,
+            reverse_code=migrations.RunPython.noop
         ),
         migrations.RunPython(
-            code=naturalize_racks
+            code=naturalize_racks,
+            reverse_code=migrations.RunPython.noop
         ),
         migrations.RunPython(
-            code=naturalize_devices
+            code=naturalize_devices,
+            reverse_code=migrations.RunPython.noop
         ),
     ]
diff --git a/netbox/dcim/models/__init__.py b/netbox/dcim/models/__init__.py
index 9b9252bef..c31f4c713 100644
--- a/netbox/dcim/models/__init__.py
+++ b/netbox/dcim/models/__init__.py
@@ -1321,7 +1321,8 @@ class Device(ChangeLoggedModel, ConfigContextModel, CustomFieldModel):
     _name = NaturalOrderingField(
         target_field='name',
         max_length=100,
-        blank=True
+        blank=True,
+        null=True
     )
     serial = models.CharField(
         max_length=50,
@@ -1438,7 +1439,7 @@ class Device(ChangeLoggedModel, ConfigContextModel, CustomFieldModel):
     }
 
     class Meta:
-        ordering = ('_name', 'pk')  # Name may be blank
+        ordering = ('_name', 'pk')  # Name may be null
         unique_together = (
             ('site', 'tenant', 'name'),  # See validate_unique below
             ('rack', 'position', 'face'),
diff --git a/netbox/utilities/ordering.py b/netbox/utilities/ordering.py
index fd3010e90..88a46d3d3 100644
--- a/netbox/utilities/ordering.py
+++ b/netbox/utilities/ordering.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def naturalize(value, max_length=None, integer_places=8):
     :param integer_places: The number of places to which each integer will be expanded. (Default: 8)
     """
     if not value:
-        return ''
+        return value
     output = []
     for segment in re.split(r'(\d+)', value):
         if segment.isdigit():