diff --git a/plugins/in_elasticsearch/in_elasticsearch_bulk_prot.c b/plugins/in_elasticsearch/in_elasticsearch_bulk_prot.c
index 7f696449b86..26e183b3d0d 100644
--- a/plugins/in_elasticsearch/in_elasticsearch_bulk_prot.c
+++ b/plugins/in_elasticsearch/in_elasticsearch_bulk_prot.c
@@ -283,6 +283,10 @@ static int get_write_op(struct flb_in_elasticsearch *ctx, msgpack_object *map, f
     msgpack_object key;
     int check = FLB_FALSE;
 
+    if (map->via.map.size == 0) {
+        return FLB_FALSE;
+    }
+
     kv = map->via.map.ptr;
     key = kv[0].key;
     if (key.type == MSGPACK_OBJECT_BIN) {