diff --git a/.changeset/tidy-ties-guess.md b/.changeset/tidy-ties-guess.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..63247c3819
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/tidy-ties-guess.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/catalog-client': patch
+---
+
+Ensure that `getEntitiesByRefs` returns `undefined` instead of `null` for missing items
diff --git a/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.test.ts b/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.test.ts
index c235ff1592..53bb55b95f 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.test.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.test.ts
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ describe('CatalogClient', () => {
         { token },
       );
 
-      expect(response).toEqual({ items: [entity, null] });
+      expect(response).toEqual({ items: [entity, undefined] });
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts b/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts
index 4984d394d4..be4ae6289d 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts
@@ -199,9 +199,11 @@ export class CatalogClient implements CatalogApi {
       throw await ResponseError.fromResponse(response);
     }
 
-    const { items } = await response.json();
+    const { items } = (await response.json()) as {
+      items: Array<Entity | null>;
+    };
 
-    return { items };
+    return { items: items.map(i => i ?? undefined) };
   }
 
   /**