diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/utilities/growableArray.cpp b/src/hotspot/share/utilities/growableArray.cpp
index 2a550a3f8a0..6a1cb0b0414 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/utilities/growableArray.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/utilities/growableArray.cpp
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ void* GrowableArrayArenaAllocator::allocate(int max, int element_size, Arena* ar
 
 void* GrowableArrayCHeapAllocator::allocate(int max, int element_size, MemTag mem_tag) {
   assert(max >= 0, "integer overflow");
+
+  if (max == 0) {
+    return nullptr;
+  }
+
   size_t byte_size = element_size * (size_t) max;
 
   // memory tag has to be specified for C heap allocation
diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/utilities/growableArray.hpp b/src/hotspot/share/utilities/growableArray.hpp
index 5dec089a4fb..31e797fc192 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/utilities/growableArray.hpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/utilities/growableArray.hpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 1997, 2024, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 1997, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -811,10 +811,6 @@ class GrowableArrayCHeap : public GrowableArrayWithAllocator<E, GrowableArrayCHe
   STATIC_ASSERT(MT != mtNone);
 
   static E* allocate(int max, MemTag mem_tag) {
-    if (max == 0) {
-      return nullptr;
-    }
-
     return (E*)GrowableArrayCHeapAllocator::allocate(max, sizeof(E), mem_tag);
   }