diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 773536179..d5d8e2584 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ It means that composer will look at `master` branch of repository configured und
 
 ## Changelog
 
+### 2024-11-16
+
+- Inflector fix: str_place with null.
+
 ### 2024-09-21
 
 - Added wrapper for PDOException to avoid creating dynamic property `queryString`.
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Utility/Inflector.php b/lib/Cake/Utility/Inflector.php
index d0ec62f47..a14fbb1e8 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Utility/Inflector.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Utility/Inflector.php
@@ -500,7 +500,7 @@ class Inflector {
  */
 	public static function humanize($lowerCaseAndUnderscoredWord) {
 		if (!($result = static::_cache(__FUNCTION__, $lowerCaseAndUnderscoredWord))) {
-			$result = explode(' ', str_replace('_', ' ', $lowerCaseAndUnderscoredWord));
+			$result = explode(' ', str_replace('_', ' ', $lowerCaseAndUnderscoredWord ?? ""));
 			foreach ($result as &$word) {
 				$word = mb_strtoupper(mb_substr($word, 0, 1)) . mb_substr($word, 1);
 			}