diff --git a/packages/lexical-list/src/formatList.ts b/packages/lexical-list/src/formatList.ts
index cfd0a21ca24..30230531f91 100644
--- a/packages/lexical-list/src/formatList.ts
+++ b/packages/lexical-list/src/formatList.ts
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ export function insertList(editor: LexicalEditor, listType: ListType): void {
           if (
             $isElementNode(node) &&
             node.isEmpty() &&
+            !$isListItemNode(node) &&
             !handled.has(node.getKey())
           ) {
             createListOrMerge(node, listType);