diff --git a/app/vlinsert/insertutils/common_params.go b/app/vlinsert/insertutils/common_params.go
index 12a56ee99..df4df79c4 100644
--- a/app/vlinsert/insertutils/common_params.go
+++ b/app/vlinsert/insertutils/common_params.go
@@ -176,6 +176,21 @@ func (lmp *logMessageProcessor) AddRow(timestamp int64, fields []logstorage.Fiel
 		return
 	}
 
+	// _msg field must exist and not empty
+	msgExist := false
+	for i := range fields {
+		if fields[i].Name == `_msg` {
+			msgExist = len(fields[i].Value) > 0
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if !msgExist {
+		rf := logstorage.RowFormatter(fields)
+		logger.Warnf("dropping log line without _msg field; %s", rf)
+		rowsDroppedTotalMsgNotValid.Inc()
+		return
+	}
+
 	lmp.lr.MustAdd(lmp.cp.TenantID, timestamp, fields)
 	if lmp.cp.Debug {
 		s := lmp.lr.GetRowString(0)
@@ -225,4 +240,5 @@ func (cp *CommonParams) NewLogMessageProcessor() LogMessageProcessor {
 var (
 	rowsDroppedTotalDebug         = metrics.NewCounter(`vl_rows_dropped_total{reason="debug"}`)
 	rowsDroppedTotalTooManyFields = metrics.NewCounter(`vl_rows_dropped_total{reason="too_many_fields"}`)
+	rowsDroppedTotalMsgNotValid   = metrics.NewCounter(`vl_rows_dropped_total{reason="msg_not_exist"}`)
 )
diff --git a/docs/VictoriaLogs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/VictoriaLogs/CHANGELOG.md
index a56ba2bbf..0b6b46c1d 100644
--- a/docs/VictoriaLogs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/VictoriaLogs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ according to [these docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/quicksta
 ## tip
 
 * FEATURE: [web UI](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/querying/#web-ui): add button for enabling auto refresh, similarly to VictoriaMetrics vmui. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/7017).
+* FEATURE: drop logs without [`_msg`](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/keyconcepts/#message-field) field or with empty `_msg` field, since this field is required to be non-empty in [VictoriaLogs data model](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/keyconcepts/#data-model). See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/6785).
 * FEATURE: improve performance of analytical queries, which do not need reading the `_time` field. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/7070).
 * FEATURE: add [`blocks_count` pipe](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/logsql/#blocks_count-pipe), which can be used for counting the number of matching blocks for the given query. For example, `_time:5m | blocks_count` returns the number of blocks with logs for the last 5 minutes. This pipe can be useful for debugging purposes.