diff --git a/sys/dev/filemon/filemon_wrapper.c b/sys/dev/filemon/filemon_wrapper.c
index e162cf58bb2..d107a40892f 100644
--- a/sys/dev/filemon/filemon_wrapper.c
+++ b/sys/dev/filemon/filemon_wrapper.c
@@ -88,6 +88,10 @@ filemon_pid_check(struct proc *p)
 	struct filemon *filemon;
 
 	filemon_lock_read();
+	if (TAILQ_EMPTY(&filemons_inuse)) {
+		filemon_unlock_read();
+		return (NULL);
+	}
 	sx_slock(&proctree_lock);
 	while (p != initproc) {
 		TAILQ_FOREACH(filemon, &filemons_inuse, link) {