diff --git a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/MultiObjectDeleteSupport.java b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/MultiObjectDeleteSupport.java
index 0a8338934c..d2b3899a69 100644
--- a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/MultiObjectDeleteSupport.java
+++ b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/MultiObjectDeleteSupport.java
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ public static IOException translateDeleteException(
           error.getMessage());
       LOG.warn(item);
       result.append(item);
-      if (exitCode.isEmpty() || ACCESS_DENIED.equals(code)) {
+      if (exitCode == null || exitCode.isEmpty() || ACCESS_DENIED.equals(code)) {
         exitCode = code;
       }
     }