diff --git a/src/core/public/saved_objects/saved_objects_client.ts b/src/core/public/saved_objects/saved_objects_client.ts
index ce3ebc710ed1..d40b91188cfc 100644
--- a/src/core/public/saved_objects/saved_objects_client.ts
+++ b/src/core/public/saved_objects/saved_objects_client.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import {
   SavedObjectsClientContract as SavedObjectsApi,
   SavedObjectsFindOptions as SavedObjectFindOptionsServer,
   SavedObjectsMigrationVersion,
+  SavedObjectsBaseOptions,
 } from '../../server';
 
 import { SimpleSavedObject } from './simple_saved_object';
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@ export interface SavedObjectsCreateOptions {
   /** {@inheritDoc SavedObjectsMigrationVersion} */
   migrationVersion?: SavedObjectsMigrationVersion;
   references?: SavedObjectReference[];
-  workspaces?: SavedObject['workspaces'];
+  workspaces?: SavedObjectsBaseOptions['workspaces'];
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/export/get_sorted_objects_for_export.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/export/get_sorted_objects_for_export.ts
index 6c99db6c24af..44595b0c33ff 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/export/get_sorted_objects_for_export.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/export/get_sorted_objects_for_export.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 
 import Boom from '@hapi/boom';
 import { createListStream } from '../../utils/streams';
-import { SavedObjectsClientContract, SavedObject } from '../types';
+import { SavedObjectsClientContract, SavedObject, SavedObjectsBaseOptions } from '../types';
 import { fetchNestedDependencies } from './inject_nested_depdendencies';
 import { sortObjects } from './sort_objects';
 
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ export interface SavedObjectsExportOptions {
   /** optional namespace to override the namespace used by the savedObjectsClient. */
   namespace?: string;
   /** optional workspaces to override the workspaces used by the savedObjectsClient. */
-  workspaces?: SavedObject['workspaces'];
+  workspaces?: SavedObjectsBaseOptions['workspaces'];
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/check_conflicts.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/check_conflicts.ts
index d173af45f761..7afab618b1ff 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/check_conflicts.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/check_conflicts.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import {
   SavedObjectsImportError,
   SavedObjectError,
   SavedObjectsImportRetry,
+  SavedObjectsBaseOptions,
 } from '../types';
 
 interface CheckConflictsParams {
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ interface CheckConflictsParams {
   ignoreRegularConflicts?: boolean;
   retries?: SavedObjectsImportRetry[];
   createNewCopies?: boolean;
-  workspaces?: SavedObject['workspaces'];
+  workspaces?: SavedObjectsBaseOptions['workspaces'];
 }
 
 const isUnresolvableConflict = (error: SavedObjectError) =>
diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/create_saved_objects.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/create_saved_objects.ts
index f98e2e816b75..35d0ddd349fa 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/create_saved_objects.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/create_saved_objects.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,12 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 
-import { SavedObject, SavedObjectsClientContract, SavedObjectsImportError } from '../types';
+import {
+  SavedObject,
+  SavedObjectsBaseOptions,
+  SavedObjectsClientContract,
+  SavedObjectsImportError,
+} from '../types';
 import { extractErrors } from './extract_errors';
 import { CreatedObject } from './types';
 
@@ -41,7 +46,7 @@ interface CreateSavedObjectsParams<T> {
   overwrite?: boolean;
   dataSourceId?: string;
   dataSourceTitle?: string;
-  workspaces?: SavedObject['workspaces'];
+  workspaces?: SavedObjectsBaseOptions['workspaces'];
 }
 interface CreateSavedObjectsResult<T> {
   createdObjects: Array<CreatedObject<T>>;
diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/types.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/types.ts
index 689b8222b510..a243e08f83e0 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/types.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/import/types.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
  */
 
 import { Readable } from 'stream';
-import { SavedObjectsClientContract, SavedObject } from '../types';
+import { SavedObjectsClientContract, SavedObject, SavedObjectsBaseOptions } from '../types';
 import { ISavedObjectTypeRegistry } from '..';
 
 /**
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ export interface SavedObjectsImportOptions {
   dataSourceId?: string;
   dataSourceTitle?: string;
   /** if specified, will import in given workspaces */
-  workspaces?: SavedObject['workspaces'];
+  workspaces?: SavedObjectsBaseOptions['workspaces'];
 }
 
 /**
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ export interface SavedObjectsResolveImportErrorsOptions {
   dataSourceId?: string;
   dataSourceTitle?: string;
   /** if specified, will import in given workspaces */
-  workspaces?: SavedObject['workspaces'];
+  workspaces?: SavedObjectsBaseOptions['workspaces'];
 }
 
 export type CreatedObject<T> = SavedObject<T> & { destinationId?: string };
diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/types.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/types.ts
index 22093b90d6b3..369cbfd53bf4 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/types.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/types.ts
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ export interface SavedObjectsBaseOptions {
   /** Specify the namespace for this operation */
   namespace?: string;
   /** Specify the workspaces for this operation */
-  workspaces?: SavedObject['workspaces'];
+  workspaces?: SavedObject['workspaces'] | null;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/core/types/saved_objects.ts b/src/core/types/saved_objects.ts
index 65ff595fa200..74890bb624a3 100644
--- a/src/core/types/saved_objects.ts
+++ b/src/core/types/saved_objects.ts
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ export interface SavedObject<T = unknown> {
    */
   originId?: string;
   /** Workspaces that this saved object exists in. */
-  workspaces?: string[] | null;
+  workspaces?: string[];
   /** Permissions that this saved objects exists in. */
   permissions?: Permissions;
 }