diff --git a/src/parser_json.c b/src/parser_json.c
index 04d762741e4a..ef7740840710 100644
--- a/src/parser_json.c
+++ b/src/parser_json.c
@@ -1350,6 +1350,9 @@ static struct expr *json_parse_verdict_expr(struct json_ctx *ctx,
 		    json_unpack_err(ctx, root, "{s:s}", "target", &chain))
 			return NULL;
 
+		if (!chain || chain[0] == '\0')
+			return NULL;
+
 		return verdict_expr_alloc(int_loc, verdict_tbl[i].verdict,
 					  json_alloc_chain_expr(chain));
 	}