diff --git a/examples/demo/agents/openai_completion_agent.py b/examples/demo/agents/openai_completion_agent.py
index c3f06b00..a0f5bf57 100644
--- a/examples/demo/agents/openai_completion_agent.py
+++ b/examples/demo/agents/openai_completion_agent.py
@@ -73,5 +73,7 @@ def say(self, content: str) -> bool:
           max_tokens=500,
         )
         # parse the output
+        if not completion.choices:
+            raise ValueError("LLM returned empty choices list")
         action = util.extract_json(completion.choices[0].text, ["/END"])
         self.send(action)