diff --git a/views/default/navigation/menu/elements/section.php b/views/default/navigation/menu/elements/section.php
index 0f23de0764e..b9eb45b6624 100644
--- a/views/default/navigation/menu/elements/section.php
+++ b/views/default/navigation/menu/elements/section.php
@@ -39,10 +39,20 @@
 
 $lis = [];
 foreach ($items as $menu_item) {
-	$lis[] = elgg_view('navigation/menu/elements/item', [
+	$item = elgg_view('navigation/menu/elements/item', [
 		'item' => $menu_item,
 		'item_class' => $item_class,
 	]);
+	
+	if (empty($item)) {
+		continue;
+	}
+	
+	$lis[] = $item;
+}
+
+if (empty($lis)) {
+	return;
 }
 
 echo elgg_format_element('ul', $vars, implode(PHP_EOL, $lis));