diff --git a/apps/emqx/src/emqx_authz_cache.erl b/apps/emqx/src/emqx_authz_cache.erl
index 016c720ed..8dcc1827a 100644
--- a/apps/emqx/src/emqx_authz_cache.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx/src/emqx_authz_cache.erl
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ drain_k() -> {?MODULE, drain_timestamp}.
 -spec is_enabled(emqx_types:topic()) -> boolean().
 is_enabled(Topic) ->
     case emqx:get_config([authorization, cache]) of
-        #{enable := true, excludes := Filters} ->
+        #{enable := true, excludes := Filters} when Filters =/= [] ->
             not is_excluded(Topic, Filters);
         #{enable := IsEnabled} ->
             IsEnabled
diff --git a/apps/emqx/src/emqx_schema.erl b/apps/emqx/src/emqx_schema.erl
index 33d027c19..ae22db14f 100644
--- a/apps/emqx/src/emqx_schema.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx/src/emqx_schema.erl
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ fields(authz_cache) ->
                 }
             )},
         {excludes,
-            sc(hoconsc:array(string()), #{
+            sc(hoconsc:array(binary()), #{
                 default => [],
                 desc => ?DESC(fields_authz_cache_excludes)
             })}