diff --git a/core/modules/file/lib/Drupal/file/Plugin/field/field_type/FileFieldItemList.php b/core/modules/file/lib/Drupal/file/Plugin/field/field_type/FileFieldItemList.php
index f06498f..3cc04b7 100644
--- a/core/modules/file/lib/Drupal/file/Plugin/field/field_type/FileFieldItemList.php
+++ b/core/modules/file/lib/Drupal/file/Plugin/field/field_type/FileFieldItemList.php
@@ -110,6 +110,9 @@ public function deleteRevision() {
    * @todo Drop this when https://drupal.org/node/2073661 lands.
    */
   protected function targetEntities() {
+    if (!isset($this->list)) {
+      return array();
+    }
     $ids = array();
     foreach ($this->list as $item) {
       $ids[] = $item->target_id;