diff --git a/src/dawn/native/metal/BackendMTL.mm b/src/dawn/native/metal/BackendMTL.mm
index 52bcda7..21515a7 100644
--- a/src/dawn/native/metal/BackendMTL.mm
+++ b/src/dawn/native/metal/BackendMTL.mm
@@ -193,6 +193,12 @@
             API_AVAILABLE(macos(10.15), ios(14.0)) {
             // MTLDevice’s counterSets property declares which counter sets it supports. Check
             // whether it's available on the device before requesting a counter set.
+
+            // On some systems, [device counterSets] is null and not an empty array.
+            if ([device counterSets] == nil) {
+                return false;
+            }
+
             id<MTLCounterSet> counterSet = nil;
             for (id<MTLCounterSet> set in [device counterSets]) {
                 if ([set.name caseInsensitiveCompare:counterSetName] == NSOrderedSame) {