diff --git a/ytypes/gnmi.go b/ytypes/gnmi.go
index 5eea45830..52a463a3e 100644
--- a/ytypes/gnmi.go
+++ b/ytypes/gnmi.go
@@ -46,7 +46,9 @@ func UnmarshalNotifications(schema *Schema, ns []*gpb.Notification, opts ...Unma
 func UnmarshalSetRequest(schema *Schema, req *gpb.SetRequest, opts ...UnmarshalOpt) error {
 	preferShadowPath := hasPreferShadowPath(opts)
 	ignoreExtraFields := hasIgnoreExtraFields(opts)
-
+	if req == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
 	root := schema.Root
 	node, nodeName, err := getOrCreateNode(schema.RootSchema(), root, req.Prefix, preferShadowPath)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/ytypes/gnmi_test.go b/ytypes/gnmi_test.go
index 0a863d7fd..c5d7ef621 100644
--- a/ytypes/gnmi_test.go
+++ b/ytypes/gnmi_test.go
@@ -19,6 +19,15 @@ func TestUnmarshalSetRequest(t *testing.T) {
 		want            ygot.GoStruct
 		wantErr         bool
 	}{{
+		desc: "nil input",
+		inSchema: &Schema{
+			Root: &ListElemStruct1{},
+			SchemaTree: map[string]*yang.Entry{
+				"ListElemStruct1": simpleSchema(),
+			},
+		},
+		want: &ListElemStruct1{},
+	}, {
 		desc: "updates to an empty struct",
 		inSchema: &Schema{
 			Root: &ListElemStruct1{},