diff --git a/elasticapm/traces.py b/elasticapm/traces.py
index 31f75b1fa..63fcfdcfe 100644
--- a/elasticapm/traces.py
+++ b/elasticapm/traces.py
@@ -91,6 +91,9 @@ def begin_span(self, name, span_type, context=None, leaf=False):
         return span
 
     def end_span(self, skip_frames):
+        if not self.span_stack:
+            return None
+
         span = self.span_stack.pop()
         if span is IGNORED_SPAN:
             return None