diff --git a/Source/Particles/PhysicalParticleContainer.cpp b/Source/Particles/PhysicalParticleContainer.cpp
index 348e0c95fcf..afe625efbe4 100644
--- a/Source/Particles/PhysicalParticleContainer.cpp
+++ b/Source/Particles/PhysicalParticleContainer.cpp
@@ -1451,8 +1451,8 @@ PhysicalParticleContainer::AddPlasmaFlux (PlasmaInjector const& plasma_injector,
         }
 
 #ifdef AMREX_USE_EB
-        auto const& eb_flag_arr = eb_flag->const_array(mfi);
-        auto const& eb_data = eb_factory->getEBData(mfi);
+        auto eb_flag_arr = eb_flag ? eb_flag->const_array(mfi) : Array4<EBCellFlag const>{};
+        auto eb_data = eb_factory ? eb_factory->getEBData(mfi) : EBData{};
 #endif
 
         amrex::ParallelForRNG(overlap_box, [=] AMREX_GPU_DEVICE (int i, int j, int k, amrex::RandomEngine const& engine) noexcept