diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/TomcatHttpHandlerAdapter.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/TomcatHttpHandlerAdapter.java
index 7920c7ffd8..b8c78fdbf4 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/TomcatHttpHandlerAdapter.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/TomcatHttpHandlerAdapter.java
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ public class TomcatHttpHandlerAdapter extends ServletHttpHandlerAdapter {
 					return EOF_BUFFER;
 				}
 				else {
-					return null;
+					return AbstractListenerReadPublisher.EMPTY_BUFFER;
 				}
 			}
 			finally {