diff --git a/.changelog/26872.txt b/.changelog/26872.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3a5163435
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/26872.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+state: Fixed a bug where the server could panic when attempting to remove unneeded evals from the eval broker
+```
diff --git a/nomad/fsm.go b/nomad/fsm.go
index c760b5caf..89b813c98 100644
--- a/nomad/fsm.go
+++ b/nomad/fsm.go
@@ -1034,7 +1034,7 @@ func (n *nomadFSM) applyAllocClientUpdate(msgType structs.MessageType, buf []byt
 				"eval_id", evalID, "error", err)
 			return err
 		}
-		if !eval.ShouldEnqueue() {
+		if eval != nil && !eval.ShouldEnqueue() {
 			n.evalBroker.DropWaiting(eval)
 		}
 	}