diff --git a/src/cyris/service_layer/scoring.py b/src/cyris/service_layer/scoring.py
index 9e6bb27e..8d2a4bd6 100644
--- a/src/cyris/service_layer/scoring.py
+++ b/src/cyris/service_layer/scoring.py
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ async def score_articles_batch(
     result: dict[str, tuple[float, str]] = {}
     url_to_tags: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
     picks: dict[str, AreaPick] = {}
-    entries = data.get("scores", [])
+    entries = data.get("scores") or []
     for entry in entries:
         article_id = entry["id"]
         score = float(entry["score"])
diff --git a/tests/test_scoring.py b/tests/test_scoring.py
index 1542289e..68cf5d92 100644
--- a/tests/test_scoring.py
+++ b/tests/test_scoring.py
@@ -296,8 +296,8 @@ async def test_custom_snippet_length_in_batch(self, sample_articles):
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         "reply",
-        [{}, {"scores": [{"id": 9, "score": 80}]}],
-        ids=["no scores key", "unknown ids"],
+        [{}, {"scores": None}, {"scores": [{"id": 9, "score": 80}]}],
+        ids=["no scores key", "null scores", "unknown ids"],
     )
     async def test_a_batch_scoring_nothing_warns(self, sample_articles, reply, caplog):
         from cyris.service_layer.scoring import score_articles_batch
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ async def test_a_batch_scoring_nothing_warns(self, sample_articles, reply, caplo
 
         assert scores == {}
         (record,) = [r for r in caplog.records if r.levelname == "WARNING"]
-        assert f"{len(reply.get('scores', []))} entries" in record.getMessage()
+        assert f"{len(reply.get('scores') or [])} entries" in record.getMessage()
 
     async def test_a_batch_scoring_some_does_not_warn(self, sample_articles, caplog):
         from cyris.service_layer.scoring import score_articles_batch