1 files changed, 2 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/lisp/emacs-lisp/eldoc.el b/lisp/emacs-lisp/eldoc.el
index cba9a00fa5a..ad08977b81a 100644
--- a/lisp/emacs-lisp/eldoc.el
+++ b/lisp/emacs-lisp/eldoc.el
@@ -264,12 +264,13 @@ Otherwise work like `message'."
              (or (window-in-direction 'above (minibuffer-window))
                  (minibuffer-selected-window)
                  (get-largest-window)))
+    (when mode-line-format
           (unless (and (listp mode-line-format)
                        (assq 'eldoc-mode-line-string mode-line-format))
             (setq mode-line-format
                   (list "" '(eldoc-mode-line-string
                              (" " eldoc-mode-line-string " "))
-                        mode-line-format)))
+                        mode-line-format))))
           (setq eldoc-mode-line-string
                 (when (stringp format-string)
                   (apply #'format-message format-string args)))