diff --git a/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityOwnerPicker/useFacetsEntities.test.ts b/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityOwnerPicker/useFacetsEntities.test.ts
index 742efaab9f..1d9eaa8af7 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityOwnerPicker/useFacetsEntities.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityOwnerPicker/useFacetsEntities.test.ts
@@ -70,6 +70,21 @@ describe('useFacetsEntities', () => {
     expect(result.current[0]).toEqual({ value: { items: [] }, loading: true });
   });
 
+  it(`should return empty response when facet is not present`, async () => {
+    mockedGetEntityFacets.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      facets: { 'metadata.tags': [{ value: 'tag', count: 1 }] },
+    });
+    mockedGetEntitiesByRefs.mockResolvedValueOnce({ items: [] });
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useFacetsEntities({ enabled: true }));
+    result.current[1]({ text: '' });
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      expect(result.current[0]).toEqual({
+        value: { items: [] },
+        loading: false,
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
   it(`should return the owners`, async () => {
     const entityRefs = ['component:default/e1', 'component:default/e2'];
     mockedGetEntityFacets.mockResolvedValue(facetsFromEntityRefs(entityRefs));
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityOwnerPicker/useFacetsEntities.ts b/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityOwnerPicker/useFacetsEntities.ts
index 10a5c5a8c2..9bb27eab98 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityOwnerPicker/useFacetsEntities.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityOwnerPicker/useFacetsEntities.ts
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ export function useFacetsEntities({ enabled }: { enabled: boolean }) {
     const facetsResponse = await catalogApi.getEntityFacets({
       facets: [facet],
     });
-    const entityRefs = facetsResponse.facets[facet].map(e => e.value);
+    const entityRefs = facetsResponse.facets[facet]?.map(e => e.value) ?? [];
 
     return catalogApi
       .getEntitiesByRefs({ entityRefs })