diff --git a/src/rpc/handlers/LedgerEntry.cpp b/src/rpc/handlers/LedgerEntry.cpp
index 14be58305..98827ad99 100644
--- a/src/rpc/handlers/LedgerEntry.cpp
+++ b/src/rpc/handlers/LedgerEntry.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include "rpc/RPCHelpers.hpp"
 #include "rpc/common/Types.hpp"
 #include "util/AccountUtils.hpp"
+#include "util/Assert.hpp"
 
 #include <boost/json/conversion.hpp>
 #include <boost/json/object.hpp>
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@
 #include <xrpl/basics/strHex.h>
 #include <xrpl/json/json_value.h>
 #include <xrpl/protocol/AccountID.h>
+#include <xrpl/protocol/ErrorCodes.h>
 #include <xrpl/protocol/Indexes.h>
 #include <xrpl/protocol/Issue.h>
 #include <xrpl/protocol/LedgerFormats.h>
@@ -153,6 +155,7 @@ LedgerEntryHandler::process(LedgerEntryHandler::Input input, Context const& ctx)
 
     // check ledger exists
     auto const range = sharedPtrBackend_->fetchLedgerRange();
+    ASSERT(range.has_value(), "Ledger range must be available");
     auto const lgrInfoOrStatus = getLedgerHeaderFromHashOrSeq(
         *sharedPtrBackend_, ctx.yield, input.ledgerHash, input.ledgerIndex, range->maxSequence
     );
diff --git a/tests/unit/rpc/handlers/LedgerEntryTests.cpp b/tests/unit/rpc/handlers/LedgerEntryTests.cpp
index 1b43c0d17..aec5bc02f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/rpc/handlers/LedgerEntryTests.cpp
+++ b/tests/unit/rpc/handlers/LedgerEntryTests.cpp
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@
 #include "util/NameGenerator.hpp"
 #include "util/TestObject.hpp"
 
+#include <boost/asio/executor_work_guard.hpp>
+#include <boost/asio/io_context.hpp>
+#include <boost/asio/spawn.hpp>
 #include <boost/json/parse.hpp>
 #include <boost/json/value.hpp>
 #include <boost/json/value_to.hpp>
@@ -2726,6 +2729,7 @@ TEST_F(RPCLedgerEntryTest, LedgerEntryDeleted)
 // Expected Result: return entryNotFound error
 TEST_F(RPCLedgerEntryTest, LedgerEntryNotExist)
 {
+    backend->setRange(RANGEMIN, RANGEMAX);
     auto const ledgerinfo = CreateLedgerHeader(LEDGERHASH, RANGEMAX);
     EXPECT_CALL(*backend, fetchLedgerBySequence(RANGEMAX, _)).WillRepeatedly(Return(ledgerinfo));
     EXPECT_CALL(*backend, doFetchLedgerObject(ripple::uint256{INDEX1}, RANGEMAX, _))
@@ -2916,6 +2920,7 @@ TEST_F(RPCLedgerEntryTest, ObjectDeletedPreviously)
 // Expected Result: return entryNotFound error
 TEST_F(RPCLedgerEntryTest, ObjectSeqNotExist)
 {
+    backend->setRange(RANGEMIN, RANGEMAX);
     auto const ledgerinfo = CreateLedgerHeader(LEDGERHASH, RANGEMAX);
     EXPECT_CALL(*backend, fetchLedgerBySequence(RANGEMAX, _)).WillRepeatedly(Return(ledgerinfo));
     EXPECT_CALL(*backend, doFetchLedgerObject(ripple::uint256{INDEX1}, RANGEMAX, _))
@@ -2938,3 +2943,27 @@ TEST_F(RPCLedgerEntryTest, ObjectSeqNotExist)
         EXPECT_EQ(myerr, "entryNotFound");
     });
 }
+
+using RPCLedgerEntryDeathTest = RPCLedgerEntryTest;
+
+TEST_F(RPCLedgerEntryDeathTest, RangeNotAvailable)
+{
+    boost::asio::io_context ctx;
+    bool checkCalled = false;
+    spawn(ctx, [&, _ = make_work_guard(ctx)](boost::asio::yield_context yield) {
+        auto const handler = AnyHandler{LedgerEntryHandler{backend}};
+        auto const req = json::parse(fmt::format(
+            R"({{
+                "index": "{}"
+            }})",
+            INDEX1
+        ));
+        checkCalled = true;
+        EXPECT_DEATH(
+            { [[maybe_unused]] auto __ = handler.process(req, Context{yield}); }, "Ledger range must be available"
+        );
+    });
+
+    ctx.run();
+    ASSERT_TRUE(checkCalled);
+}