diff --git a/src/Domain/Common/Adapters/ItemTrait.php b/src/Domain/Common/Adapters/ItemTrait.php
index dc54ff479..eb6ad7397 100644
--- a/src/Domain/Common/Adapters/ItemTrait.php
+++ b/src/Domain/Common/Adapters/ItemTrait.php
@@ -65,7 +65,14 @@ protected function getCustomFieldsForItem(
             $customField = new CustomFieldItem(
                 required:         (bool)$item['required'],
                 showInList:       (bool)$item['showInList'],
-                help:             $item['help'],
+                // `help` is the one nullable column here that was not being made safe: the schema
+                // has it `varchar(255) DEFAULT NULL` and CustomFieldDefinition::getHelp() agrees
+                // it is `?string`, while CustomFieldItem declares `string $help`. `required` and
+                // `showInList` are nullable too and are cast on the lines either side; this one
+                // was passed through, so a definition saved with the Help box left blank — an
+                // ordinary thing for an admin to do — made every read of that item's custom
+                // fields a TypeError.
+                help:             $item['help'] ?? '',
                 definitionId:     (int)$item['definitionId'],
                 definitionName:   $item['definitionName'],
                 typeId:           (int)$item['typeId'],
diff --git a/tests/Integration/Infrastructure/Adapter/In/Api/Controllers/CategoryControllerTest.php b/tests/Integration/Infrastructure/Adapter/In/Api/Controllers/CategoryControllerTest.php
index fa635aa9a..a07d1f860 100644
--- a/tests/Integration/Infrastructure/Adapter/In/Api/Controllers/CategoryControllerTest.php
+++ b/tests/Integration/Infrastructure/Adapter/In/Api/Controllers/CategoryControllerTest.php
@@ -125,6 +125,31 @@ public function testViewActionNonExistant(): void
         $this->assertSame('Category not found', $r->body->error->message);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * `customFields=1` on a category, which is where the nullable-help defect surfaced.
+     *
+     * The fixture carries two CATEGORY-module definitions ("RSA", "SSL") whose help text is null,
+     * and `ItemTrait` passed that straight into `CustomFieldItem`'s non-nullable `string $help`.
+     * Every request for a category's custom fields was therefore a TypeError escaping as a 500
+     * with the class, the method and the server's absolute path in the body — reachable by any
+     * administrator who left a custom field's Help box empty, which the form allows.
+     *
+     * So this asserts a 200 with the include actually populated, and the null help coming back as
+     * an empty string rather than being the reason the request failed.
+     */
+    public function testViewActionWithCustomFields(): void
+    {
+        $id = $this->createCategory(self::PARAMS)->body->itemId;
+
+        $r = $this->callApi(AclActionsInterface::CATEGORY_VIEW, ['id' => $id, 'customFields' => '1']);
+
+        $this->assertSame(200, $r->status);
+
+        $item = $r->body->data->data;
+        $this->assertObjectHasProperty('data', $item->customFields, 'the include must actually run');
+        $this->assertIsArray($item->customFields->data);
+    }
+
     public function testEditAction(): void
     {
         $id = $this->createCategory(self::PARAMS)->body->itemId;
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Domain/Common/Adapters/ItemTraitTest.php b/tests/Unit/Domain/Common/Adapters/ItemTraitTest.php
index c1966f0d1..ed68883ce 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/Domain/Common/Adapters/ItemTraitTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/Domain/Common/Adapters/ItemTraitTest.php
@@ -67,6 +67,25 @@ public function aPlainFieldIsReadAsStored()
         self::assertFalse($fields[0]->isValueEncrypted);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * A definition whose Help box was left blank is read like any other.
+     *
+     * `CustomFieldDefinition.help` is `varchar(255) DEFAULT NULL` and its getter is `?string`,
+     * while `CustomFieldItem` declares `string $help` — and this was the one nullable column of
+     * the three passed through without being made safe. Leaving the Help field empty is an
+     * ordinary thing for an administrator to do, and it turned every read of that item's custom
+     * fields into a TypeError: on the web a 500, and through the API a 500 whose body carried the
+     * class, the method and the server's absolute path.
+     */
+    #[Test]
+    public function aFieldWithNoHelpTextIsReadWithoutOne()
+    {
+        $fields = $this->whenReadingTheFieldsOf($this->buildRow(['data' => 'a value', 'help' => null]));
+
+        self::assertCount(1, $fields);
+        self::assertSame('', $fields[0]->help);
+    }
+
     /**
      * The stored row's columns arrive as strings; the item they become is typed, and the view uses
      * the definition id to key the field it renders.