diff --git a/typo3/sysext/core/Classes/DataHandling/DataHandler.php b/typo3/sysext/core/Classes/DataHandling/DataHandler.php
index 7fa5478c738dca228b621d515f6c0937da6eac6e..5d7922f6253e17f7e1ef44661c95e8cea5bfbf6f 100644
--- a/typo3/sysext/core/Classes/DataHandling/DataHandler.php
+++ b/typo3/sysext/core/Classes/DataHandling/DataHandler.php
@@ -3531,7 +3531,7 @@ class DataHandler implements LoggerAwareInterface
                                 $this->resolveVersionedRecords(
                                     $table,
                                     implode(',', $fields),
-                                    $GLOBALS['TCA'][$table]['ctrl']['sortby'],
+                                    $GLOBALS['TCA'][$table]['ctrl']['sortby'] ?? '',
                                     array_keys($rows)
                                 ),
                                 true