diff --git a/badges/external.php b/badges/external.php
index e9c4ab3580e..f18883bf42b 100644
--- a/badges/external.php
+++ b/badges/external.php
@@ -51,8 +51,17 @@ if (!empty($CFG->forceloginforprofiles)) {
 
 // Get all external badges of a user.
 $out = get_backpack_settings($userid);
+
+// If we didn't find any badges then print an error.
+if (is_null($out)) {
+    print_error('error:externalbadgedoesntexist', 'badges');
+}
+
 $badges = $out->badges;
 
+// The variable to store the badge we want.
+$badge = '';
+
 // Loop through the badges and check if supplied badge hash exists in user external badges.
 foreach ($badges as $b) {
     if ($hash == hash("md5", $b->hostedUrl)) {
@@ -61,9 +70,9 @@ foreach ($badges as $b) {
     }
 }
 
-// If we didn't find the badge, a user might be trying to replace userid parameter.
-if (is_null($badge)) {
-    print_error(get_string('error:externalbadgedoesntexist', 'badges'));
+// If we didn't find the badge a user might be trying to replace the userid parameter.
+if (empty($badge)) {
+    print_error('error:externalbadgedoesntexist', 'badges');
 }
 
 $PAGE->set_context(context_system::instance());