diff --git a/include/SDL3/SDL_clipboard.h b/include/SDL3/SDL_clipboard.h
index 3ca56a48af..6f6fe6c544 100644
--- a/include/SDL3/SDL_clipboard.h
+++ b/include/SDL3/SDL_clipboard.h
@@ -198,11 +198,7 @@ extern SDL_DECLSPEC bool SDLCALL SDL_HasPrimarySelectionText(void);
  * \param mime_type the requested mime-type.
  * \param size a pointer filled in with the length of the returned data.
  * \returns a pointer to the data for the provided mime-type. Returning NULL
- *          or setting the length to 0 will cause no data to be sent to the
- *          "receiver". It is up to the receiver to handle this. Essentially
- *          returning no data is more or less undefined behavior and may cause
- *          breakage in receiving applications. The returned data will not be
- *          freed, so it needs to be retained and dealt with internally.
+ *          or setting the length to 0 will cause zero length data to be sent to the "receiver", which should be able to handle this. The returned data will not be freed, so it needs to be retained and dealt with internally.
  *
  * \since This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.
  *
diff --git a/src/video/SDL_clipboard.c b/src/video/SDL_clipboard.c
index 9d8c27d451..a7653f3b45 100644
--- a/src/video/SDL_clipboard.c
+++ b/src/video/SDL_clipboard.c
@@ -173,6 +173,11 @@ void *SDL_GetInternalClipboardData(SDL_VideoDevice *_this, const char *mime_type
     void *data = NULL;
 
     if (_this->clipboard_callback) {
+        if (!SDL_HasInternalClipboardData(_this, mime_type)) {
+            // The callback hasn't advertised that it can handle this mime type
+            return NULL;
+        }
+
         const void *provided_data = _this->clipboard_callback(_this->clipboard_userdata, mime_type, size);
         if (provided_data) {
             // Make a copy of it for the caller and guarantee null termination
@@ -180,6 +185,8 @@ void *SDL_GetInternalClipboardData(SDL_VideoDevice *_this, const char *mime_type
             if (data) {
                 SDL_memcpy(data, provided_data, *size);
                 SDL_memset((Uint8 *)data + *size, 0, sizeof(Uint32));
+            } else {
+                *size = 0;
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/test/testclipboard.c b/test/testclipboard.c
index 9dad02be79..9b7215146c 100644
--- a/test/testclipboard.c
+++ b/test/testclipboard.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ static const void *ClipboardDataCallback(void *userdata, const char *mime_type,
         *size = icon_bmp_len;
         return icon_bmp;
     } else {
+        SDL_Log("Called with unexpected mime type: %s", mime_type);
         return NULL;
     }
 }