diff --git a/providers/common/ciphers/cipher_common.c b/providers/common/ciphers/cipher_common.c
index fe4560192d74db5578bec43c54299addb1014d76..8f39a168c8536c91f4c383fd7530186b2b98d222 100644
--- a/providers/common/ciphers/cipher_common.c
+++ b/providers/common/ciphers/cipher_common.c
@@ -207,6 +207,8 @@ int cipher_generic_block_update(void *vctx, unsigned char *out, size_t *outl,
             ERR_raise(ERR_LIB_PROV, PROV_R_OUTPUT_BUFFER_TOO_SMALL);
             return 0;
         }
+    }
+    if (nextblocks > 0) {
         if (!ctx->hw->cipher(ctx, out, in, nextblocks)) {
             ERR_raise(ERR_LIB_PROV, PROV_R_CIPHER_OPERATION_FAILED);
             return 0;