diff --git a/vertexai/_genai/evals.py b/vertexai/_genai/evals.py
index 2a67707e1b..d968b4e7c3 100644
--- a/vertexai/_genai/evals.py
+++ b/vertexai/_genai/evals.py
@@ -1608,6 +1608,7 @@ def create_evaluation_run(
                 )
             if (
                 dataset.candidate_name
+                and agent_info
                 and agent_info.name
                 and dataset.candidate_name != agent_info.name
             ):