diff --git a/typo3/sysext/core/Classes/DataHandling/DataHandler.php b/typo3/sysext/core/Classes/DataHandling/DataHandler.php
index 27a4b53704c15fc20f8e500ccb35308f62b676eb..bb61317aadf778932cfd66f0b7a39221f36d1694 100644
--- a/typo3/sysext/core/Classes/DataHandling/DataHandler.php
+++ b/typo3/sysext/core/Classes/DataHandling/DataHandler.php
@@ -1875,7 +1875,10 @@ class DataHandler
             );
         }
 
-        $itemC = count($items);
+        $itemC = 0;
+        if ($items !== null) {
+            $itemC = count($items);
+        }
         if (!$itemC) {
             $itemC = 1;
         }