private static DBObject normalize(DBObject obj) {
    BasicDBObjectBuilder builder = BasicDBObjectBuilder.start();

    Iterator<String> iterator = obj.keySet().iterator();
    builder.push("$set");
    while (iterator.hasNext()) {

      String key = iterator.next();

      if (Constants.ID_PROPERTY.equals(key)) continue;

      Object value = obj.get(key);

      if (value == null) continue;

      builder.add(key, value);
    }

    return builder.get();
  }