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 b34723afa0..5223c1a91c 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
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ public class TomcatHttpHandlerAdapter extends ServletHttpHandlerAdapter {
 					return EOF_BUFFER;
 				}
 				else {
-					return null;
+					return AbstractListenerReadPublisher.EMPTY_BUFFER;
 				}
 			}
 			finally {