diff --git a/warehouse/query-core/src/main/java/datawave/query/util/sortedset/MultiSetBackedSortedSet.java b/warehouse/query-core/src/main/java/datawave/query/util/sortedset/MultiSetBackedSortedSet.java
index 6e3d2555cc3..880827b3f12 100644
--- a/warehouse/query-core/src/main/java/datawave/query/util/sortedset/MultiSetBackedSortedSet.java
+++ b/warehouse/query-core/src/main/java/datawave/query/util/sortedset/MultiSetBackedSortedSet.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import java.util.Comparator;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
 import java.util.SortedSet;
 import java.util.TreeSet;
 
@@ -52,8 +53,11 @@ public int size() {
 
     @Override
     public boolean isEmpty() {
+        if (sets == null) {
+            return true;
+        }
         for (SortedSet<E> set : sets) {
-            if (!set.isEmpty()) {
+            if (set != null && !set.isEmpty()) {
                 return false;
             }
         }
@@ -141,26 +145,38 @@ public SortedSet<E> tailSet(E fromElement) {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public E first() {
+    public E first() throws NoSuchElementException {
+        if (sets == null || sets.isEmpty()) {
+            throw new NoSuchElementException("No elements in input sets");
+        }
         SortedSet<E> firstSet = new TreeSet<>(comparator());
         for (SortedSet<E> set : sets) {
-            E s = set.first();
-            if (s != null) {
+            if (set != null && !set.isEmpty()) {
+                E s = set.first();
                 firstSet.add(s);
             }
         }
+        if (firstSet.isEmpty()) {
+            throw new NoSuchElementException("No elements in input sets");
+        }
         return firstSet.first();
     }
 
     @Override
-    public E last() {
+    public E last() throws NoSuchElementException {
+        if (sets == null || sets.isEmpty()) {
+            throw new NoSuchElementException("No elements in input sets");
+        }
         SortedSet<E> lastSet = new TreeSet<>(comparator());
         for (SortedSet<E> set : sets) {
-            E s = set.last();
-            if (s != null) {
+            if (set != null && !set.isEmpty()) {
+                E s = set.last();
                 lastSet.add(s);
             }
         }
+        if (lastSet.isEmpty()) {
+            throw new NoSuchElementException("No elements in input sets");
+        }
         return lastSet.last();
     }
 }
diff --git a/warehouse/query-core/src/test/java/datawave/query/util/sortedset/MultiSetBackedSortedSetTest.java b/warehouse/query-core/src/test/java/datawave/query/util/sortedset/MultiSetBackedSortedSetTest.java
index 54e8b4bfe17..091ba311620 100644
--- a/warehouse/query-core/src/test/java/datawave/query/util/sortedset/MultiSetBackedSortedSetTest.java
+++ b/warehouse/query-core/src/test/java/datawave/query/util/sortedset/MultiSetBackedSortedSetTest.java
@@ -361,12 +361,14 @@ public void testHeadSet() {
         // verify order
         assertFalse(subSet.isEmpty());
         assertArrayEquals(data[sortedOrder[start]], subSet.iterator().next());
+        assertArrayEquals(data[sortedOrder[start]], subSet.first());
         int index = start;
         for (byte[] value : subSet) {
             assertArrayEquals(data[sortedOrder[index++]], value);
         }
         ArrayList<byte[]> list = new ArrayList<>(subSet);
         assertArrayEquals(data[sortedOrder[end - 1]], list.get(list.size() - 1));
+        assertArrayEquals(data[sortedOrder[end - 1]], subSet.last());
 
         subSet = set.headSet(data[sortedOrder[end]]);