diff --git a/net/tls/tls_sw.c b/net/tls/tls_sw.c
index 9ed978634125..a83d2b4275fa 100644
--- a/net/tls/tls_sw.c
+++ b/net/tls/tls_sw.c
@@ -2427,7 +2427,7 @@ static bool tls_is_tx_ready(struct tls_sw_context_tx *ctx)
 {
 	struct tls_rec *rec;
 
-	rec = list_first_entry(&ctx->tx_list, struct tls_rec, list);
+	rec = list_first_entry_or_null(&ctx->tx_list, struct tls_rec, list);
 	if (!rec)
 		return false;