MongoDB array values not added to document if array does not exist previously

I have an users collection

const userSchema = mongoose.Schema({
  fullName: { type: String },
  favClubsBeforeDeactivation: [{ type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId, ref: 'Club' }],
})

I’m trying to update some user’s favClubsBeforeDeactivation with some object ids using the followin query:

User.findOneAndUpdate(
  { _id: 'userObjectId' }, 
  { $set: { favClubsBeforeDeactivation: ['firstObjectId', 'secondObjectId'] } }
)

When the favClubsBeforeDeactivation array exists already on that particular document, everything works fine but when the array does not exist yet, favClubsBeforeDeactivation is added to the document as an empty array (I want it to also contain the ids).

Do you have any idea about how this can be fixed?