diff --git a/kernel/sched/rt.c b/kernel/sched/rt.c
index e5d42947e57a..186e7d78ded5 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/rt.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/rt.c
@@ -1561,6 +1561,8 @@ static struct sched_rt_entity *pick_next_rt_entity(struct rt_rq *rt_rq)
 	BUG_ON(idx >= MAX_RT_PRIO);
 
 	queue = array->queue + idx;
+	if (SCHED_WARN_ON(list_empty(queue)))
+		return NULL;
 	next = list_entry(queue->next, struct sched_rt_entity, run_list);
 
 	return next;
@@ -1573,7 +1575,8 @@ static struct task_struct *_pick_next_task_rt(struct rq *rq)
 
 	do {
 		rt_se = pick_next_rt_entity(rt_rq);
-		BUG_ON(!rt_se);
+		if (unlikely(!rt_se))
+			return NULL;
 		rt_rq = group_rt_rq(rt_se);
 	} while (rt_rq);