diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/journal-file.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/journal-file.c
index 474d7b1d27..9952868016 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/journal-file.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/journal-file.c
@@ -2788,6 +2788,9 @@ static int generic_array_get(
                         return r;
 
                 k = journal_file_entry_array_n_items(f, o);
+                if (k == 0)
+                        return 0;
+
                 if (i < k)
                         break;