diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext.c b/kernel/sched/ext.c
index 073b669869cb..bd74b371f52d 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext.c
@@ -2402,7 +2402,7 @@ static void put_prev_task_scx(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p,
 		 * ops.enqueue() that @p is the only one available for this cpu,
 		 * which should trigger an explicit follow-up scheduling event.
 		 */
-		if (sched_class_above(&ext_sched_class, next->sched_class)) {
+		if (next && sched_class_above(&ext_sched_class, next->sched_class)) {
 			WARN_ON_ONCE(!(sch->ops.flags & SCX_OPS_ENQ_LAST));
 			do_enqueue_task(rq, p, SCX_ENQ_LAST, -1);
 		} else {