diff --git a/.github/workflows/benchmarking.yml b/.github/workflows/benchmarking.yml
index a0d9bdf07b..32806b89ab 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/benchmarking.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/benchmarking.yml
@@ -557,7 +557,7 @@ jobs:
         ln -s /home/nonroot/pg/usr/lib/postgresql/16/bin/psql    /tmp/neon/pg_install/v16/bin/psql
         ln -s /home/nonroot/pg/usr/lib/$(uname -m)-linux-gnu     /tmp/neon/pg_install/v16/lib
 
-        LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/home/nonroot/pg/usr/lib/$(uname -m)-linux-gnu:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}"
+        LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/home/nonroot/pg/usr/lib/$(uname -m)-linux-gnu:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:-}"
         export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
         echo "LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}" >> ${GITHUB_ENV}