diff --git a/controller/chassis.c b/controller/chassis.c
index 2991a0af3..b2eefd58a 100644
--- a/controller/chassis.c
+++ b/controller/chassis.c
@@ -1016,6 +1016,9 @@ store_chassis_index_if_needed(
 {
     const struct ovsrec_open_vswitch *cfg =
         ovsrec_open_vswitch_table_first(ovs_table);
+    if (!cfg) {
+        return;
+    }
     const char *chassis_id = get_ovs_chassis_id(ovs_table);
 
     char *idx_key = xasprintf(CHASSIS_IDX_PREFIX "%s", chassis_id);
diff --git a/controller/ovn-controller.c b/controller/ovn-controller.c
index c48667887..1e987e630 100644
--- a/controller/ovn-controller.c
+++ b/controller/ovn-controller.c
@@ -5434,6 +5434,8 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
             ovsrec_open_vswitch_table_get(ovs_idl_loop.idl);
         const struct ovsrec_bridge *br_int = NULL;
         const struct ovsrec_datapath *br_int_dp = NULL;
+        const struct ovsrec_open_vswitch *cfg =
+            ovsrec_open_vswitch_table_first(ovs_table);
         process_br_int(ovs_idl_txn, bridge_table, ovs_table, &br_int,
                        ovsrec_server_has_datapath_table(ovs_idl_loop.idl)
                        ? &br_int_dp
@@ -5445,9 +5447,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
                               br_int_remote.probe_interval);
 
         /* Enable ACL matching for double tagged traffic. */
-        if (ovs_idl_txn) {
-            const struct ovsrec_open_vswitch *cfg =
-                ovsrec_open_vswitch_table_first(ovs_table);
+        if (ovs_idl_txn && cfg) {
             int vlan_limit = smap_get_int(
                 &cfg->other_config, "vlan-limit", -1);
             if (vlan_limit != 0) {
@@ -5463,7 +5463,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
         }
 
         if (ovsdb_idl_has_ever_connected(ovnsb_idl_loop.idl) &&
-            northd_version_match) {
+            northd_version_match && cfg) {
 
             /* Unconditionally remove all deleted lflows from the lflow
              * cache.
diff --git a/tests/ovn-controller.at b/tests/ovn-controller.at
index a2e451880..82ed5d0f1 100644
--- a/tests/ovn-controller.at
+++ b/tests/ovn-controller.at
@@ -3419,3 +3419,28 @@ AT_CHECK([test $(grep -c "HANDLER_MESSAGE" hv1/ovn-controller.log) -ge 1])
 
 OVN_CLEANUP([hv1])
 AT_CLEANUP
+
+AT_SETUP([ovn-controller - qwerty Start controller with empty db])
+AT_KEYWORDS([ovn])
+
+check ovsdb-tool create conf.db $ovs_srcdir/vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
+start_daemon ovsdb-server --remote=punix:db.sock
+start_daemon ovn-controller unix:db.sock
+
+AT_CHECK([ovsdb-client --bare dump unix:db.sock Open_vSwitch Open_vSwitch], [], [dnl
+Open_vSwitch table
+])
+check ovs-vsctl --no-wait init
+OVS_WAIT_FOR_OUTPUT([ovs-vsctl show | tail -n +2], [], [dnl
+    Bridge br-int
+        fail_mode: secure
+        datapath_type: system
+        Port br-int
+            Interface br-int
+                type: internal
+])
+
+# Gracefully terminate daemons.
+OVS_APP_EXIT_AND_WAIT([ovn-controller])
+OVS_APP_EXIT_AND_WAIT([ovsdb-server])
+AT_CLEANUP