diff --git a/scripts/dts/gen_defines.py b/scripts/dts/gen_defines.py
index ac46b18351f..6b86ec5b6e6 100755
--- a/scripts/dts/gen_defines.py
+++ b/scripts/dts/gen_defines.py
@@ -505,7 +505,7 @@ def write_chosen(edt):
     for name, node in edt.chosen_nodes.items():
         chosen[f"DT_CHOSEN_{str2ident(name)}"] = f"DT_{node.z_path_id}"
         chosen[f"DT_CHOSEN_{str2ident(name)}_EXISTS"] = 1
-    max_len = max(map(len, chosen))
+    max_len = max(map(len, chosen), default=0)
     for macro, value in chosen.items():
         out_define(macro, value, width=max_len)