diff --git a/packages/grpc-js/src/load-balancer-outlier-detection.ts b/packages/grpc-js/src/load-balancer-outlier-detection.ts
index 885c4feb9..ce8668f18 100644
--- a/packages/grpc-js/src/load-balancer-outlier-detection.ts
+++ b/packages/grpc-js/src/load-balancer-outlier-detection.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ export class OutlierDetectionLoadBalancingConfig implements LoadBalancingConfig
     failurePercentageEjection: Partial<FailurePercentageEjectionConfig> | null,
     private readonly childPolicy: LoadBalancingConfig[]
   ) {
-    if (childPolicy[0].getLoadBalancerName() === 'pick_first') {
+    if (childPolicy.length > 0 && childPolicy[0].getLoadBalancerName() === 'pick_first') {
       throw new Error('outlier_detection LB policy cannot have a pick_first child policy');
     }
     this.intervalMs = intervalMs ?? 10_000;