diff --git a/lib/system/excpt.nim b/lib/system/excpt.nim
index d9c7b4c25d..7d5f5af7f9 100644
--- a/lib/system/excpt.nim
+++ b/lib/system/excpt.nim
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ when hasSomeStackTrace:
     when NimStackTrace:
       auxWriteStackTrace(framePtr, s)
     else:
-      s = nil
+      s = @[]
 
   proc stackTraceAvailable(): bool =
     when NimStackTrace: