diff --git a/.changeset/popular-goats-juggle.md b/.changeset/popular-goats-juggle.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..71215b9ee05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/popular-goats-juggle.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@keystone-next/keystone': patch
+---
+
+Fixed a bug in `context.db.lists` API when finding items that don't exist.
diff --git a/packages/keystone/src/lib/context/executeGraphQLFieldToRootVal.ts b/packages/keystone/src/lib/context/executeGraphQLFieldToRootVal.ts
index 5c35e6ac33f..9e392c62e02 100644
--- a/packages/keystone/src/lib/context/executeGraphQLFieldToRootVal.ts
+++ b/packages/keystone/src/lib/context/executeGraphQLFieldToRootVal.ts
@@ -134,8 +134,8 @@ function getRootValGivenOutputType(originalType: OutputType, value: any): any {
   if (originalType instanceof GraphQLNonNull) {
     return getRootValGivenOutputType(originalType.ofType, value);
   }
+  if (value === null) return null;
   if (originalType instanceof GraphQLList) {
-    if (value === null) return null;
     return value.map((x: any) => getRootValGivenOutputType(originalType.ofType, x));
   }
   return value[rawField];