diff --git a/backend/app/routers/dashboard.py b/backend/app/routers/dashboard.py
index 027ab99..fb35872 100644
--- a/backend/app/routers/dashboard.py
+++ b/backend/app/routers/dashboard.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, Query
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
-from sqlalchemy import select, func, and_
+from sqlalchemy import select, func, or_
 from datetime import datetime, date, timedelta
 from typing import Optional, List, Dict, Any
 
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ async def get_dashboard(
     events_query = select(CalendarEvent).where(
         CalendarEvent.start_datetime >= today_start,
         CalendarEvent.start_datetime <= today_end,
-        CalendarEvent.recurrence_rule == None,
+        or_(CalendarEvent.recurrence_rule == None, CalendarEvent.recurrence_rule == ""),
     )
     events_result = await db.execute(events_query)
     todays_events = events_result.scalars().all()
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ async def get_dashboard(
     starred_query = select(CalendarEvent).where(
         CalendarEvent.is_starred == True,
         CalendarEvent.start_datetime > now,
-        CalendarEvent.recurrence_rule == None,
+        or_(CalendarEvent.recurrence_rule == None, CalendarEvent.recurrence_rule == ""),
     ).order_by(CalendarEvent.start_datetime.asc()).limit(5)
     starred_result = await db.execute(starred_query)
     starred_events = starred_result.scalars().all()
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ async def get_upcoming(
     events_query = select(CalendarEvent).where(
         CalendarEvent.start_datetime >= today_start,
         CalendarEvent.start_datetime <= cutoff_datetime,
-        CalendarEvent.recurrence_rule == None,
+        or_(CalendarEvent.recurrence_rule == None, CalendarEvent.recurrence_rule == ""),
     )
     events_result = await db.execute(events_query)
     events = events_result.scalars().all()