diff --git a/llvm/utils/git/github-automation.py b/llvm/utils/git/github-automation.py
index 52523704fe82d..ad1878d411939 100755
--- a/llvm/utils/git/github-automation.py
+++ b/llvm/utils/git/github-automation.py
@@ -48,6 +48,11 @@ def _get_curent_team(team_name, teams) -> Optional[github.Team.Team]:
 
 
 def escape_description(str):
+    # If the description of an issue/pull request is empty, the Github API
+    # library returns None instead of an empty string. Handle this here to
+    # avoid failures from trying to manipulate None.
+    if str is None:
+        return ""
     # https://github.com/github/markup/issues/1168#issuecomment-494946168
     str = html.escape(str, False)
     # '@' followed by alphanum is a user name