diff --git a/osu.Game/Screens/Select/BeatmapCarousel.cs b/osu.Game/Screens/Select/BeatmapCarousel.cs
index e877633ab3..b343998e11 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Screens/Select/BeatmapCarousel.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Screens/Select/BeatmapCarousel.cs
@@ -194,7 +194,14 @@ namespace osu.Game.Screens.Select
             if (!Items.Any())
                 return;
 
-            int originalIndex = Items.IndexOf(selectedBeatmap?.Drawables.First());
+            DrawableCarouselItem drawable = null;
+
+            if (selectedBeatmap != null && (drawable = selectedBeatmap.Drawables.FirstOrDefault()) == null)
+                // if the selected beatmap isn't present yet, we can't correctly change selection.
+                // we can fix this by changing this method to not reference drawables / Items in the first place.
+                return;
+
+            int originalIndex = Items.IndexOf(drawable);
             int currentIndex = originalIndex;
 
             // local function to increment the index in the required direction, wrapping over extremities.