diff --git a/subprojects/gstreamer/libs/gst/base/gstbasetransform.c b/subprojects/gstreamer/libs/gst/base/gstbasetransform.c
index ac4b80a67e..38fbb4d06d 100644
--- a/subprojects/gstreamer/libs/gst/base/gstbasetransform.c
+++ b/subprojects/gstreamer/libs/gst/base/gstbasetransform.c
@@ -1595,6 +1595,10 @@ gst_base_transform_default_query (GstBaseTransform * trans,
 
       gst_query_parse_caps (query, &filter);
       caps = gst_base_transform_query_caps (trans, pad, filter);
+      if (!caps) {
+        GST_WARNING_OBJECT (pad, "no caps can be handled by this pad");
+        caps = gst_caps_new_empty ();
+      }
       gst_query_set_caps_result (query, caps);
       gst_caps_unref (caps);
       ret = TRUE;