diff --git a/vllm/v1/engine/processor.py b/vllm/v1/engine/processor.py
index a0b170ba55ad7..7e7703df2cf10 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/engine/processor.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/engine/processor.py
@@ -173,6 +173,12 @@ class Processor:
             params.guided_decoding.backend = engine_level_backend
 
         # Request content validation
+        if (isinstance(params.guided_decoding.choice, list)
+                and not params.guided_decoding.choice):
+            # It is invalid for choice to be an empty list
+            raise ValueError(f"Choice '{params.guided_decoding.choice}' "
+                             "cannot be an empty list")
+
         if engine_level_backend.startswith("xgrammar"):
             # xgrammar with no fallback
             validate_xgrammar_grammar(params)