diff --git a/cider-eldoc.el b/cider-eldoc.el
index 4c094b06c..9a3266272 100644
--- a/cider-eldoc.el
+++ b/cider-eldoc.el
@@ -218,9 +218,10 @@ information."
          (symbol (lax-plist-get eldoc-info "symbol"))
          (docstring (or (cider--render-docstring-first-sentence eldoc-info)
                         (cider--render-docstring eldoc-info)
-                        (cider-docstring--trim
-                         (cider-docstring--format
-                          (lax-plist-get eldoc-info "docstring")))))
+                        (when (lax-plist-get eldoc-info "docstring")
+                          (cider-docstring--trim
+                           (cider-docstring--format
+                            (lax-plist-get eldoc-info "docstring"))))))
          ;; if it's a single class (and not multiple class candidates), that's it
          (maybe-class (car (lax-plist-get eldoc-info "class")))
          (formatted-var (or (when maybe-class