diff --git a/crawl4ai/extraction_strategy.py b/crawl4ai/extraction_strategy.py
index ed039890e..16c1f29e4 100644
--- a/crawl4ai/extraction_strategy.py
+++ b/crawl4ai/extraction_strategy.py
@@ -1225,7 +1225,7 @@ def _extract_single_field(self, element, field):
             if value is None:
                 break
 
-        if "transform" in field:
+        if "transform" in field and value is not None:
             value = self._apply_transform(value, field["transform"])
 
         return value if value is not None else field.get("default")
diff --git a/tests/test_json_transform_none_guard.py b/tests/test_json_transform_none_guard.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3b1d1717c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_json_transform_none_guard.py
@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
+"""Regression tests for applying a field `transform` to a ``None`` value.
+
+A field in a JSON (CSS/XPath) extraction schema may pair a fail-capable
+extraction step (a ``type: "regex"`` that does not match, or a
+``type: "attribute"`` whose attribute is absent) with an optional
+``transform`` (``lowercase`` / ``uppercase`` / ``strip``).
+
+When the type pipeline yields ``None``, ``_apply_transform`` used to be
+called unconditionally, doing ``None.lower()`` / ``None.strip()`` and
+raising ``AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute ...``.
+The ``transform`` block must be skipped for a ``None`` value so it flows to
+the existing ``default`` handling, exactly like the very next line already
+assumes it can.
+"""
+
+import pytest
+from crawl4ai.extraction_strategy import (
+    JsonCssExtractionStrategy,
+    JsonXPathExtractionStrategy,
+)
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# CSS strategy
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+class TestCssTransformNoneGuard:
+    """JsonCssExtractionStrategy: transform must not crash on a missing value."""
+
+    def test_basefields_regex_miss_with_transform_returns_default(self):
+        """A baseField regex that misses + transform must not raise; use default.
+
+        The ``baseFields`` loop in ``extract()`` has no try/except, so the
+        crash aborts the whole extraction rather than falling back.
+        """
+        html = "<div class='row'><span class='code'>abc</span></div>"
+        schema = {
+            "name": "codes",
+            "baseSelector": "div.row",
+            "baseFields": [
+                {
+                    "name": "num",
+                    "selector": "span.code",
+                    "type": "regex",
+                    "pattern": r"(\d+)",
+                    "transform": "lowercase",
+                    "default": "NA",
+                },
+            ],
+            "fields": [
+                {"name": "code", "selector": "span.code", "type": "text"},
+            ],
+        }
+        results = JsonCssExtractionStrategy(schema).extract(None, html)
+        assert results == [{"num": "NA", "code": "abc"}]
+
+    def test_list_regex_miss_with_transform_keeps_valid_siblings(self):
+        """One non-matching sibling must not drop the entire list."""
+        html = """<div class='wrap'>
+          <ul>
+            <li class='x'>id-123</li>
+            <li class='x'>nope</li>
+            <li class='x'>id-999</li>
+          </ul>
+        </div>"""
+        schema = {
+            "name": "ids",
+            "baseSelector": "div.wrap",
+            "fields": [
+                {
+                    "name": "items",
+                    "selector": "li.x",
+                    "type": "list",
+                    "fields": [
+                        {
+                            "name": "id",
+                            "type": "regex",
+                            "pattern": r"id-(\d+)",
+                            "transform": "lowercase",
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+            ],
+        }
+        results = JsonCssExtractionStrategy(schema).extract(None, html)
+        assert len(results) == 1
+        items = results[0]["items"]
+        assert len(items) == 3
+        # Valid siblings survive; the missing one is simply empty.
+        assert items[0] == {"id": "123"}
+        assert items[1] == {}
+        assert items[2] == {"id": "999"}
+
+    def test_list_attribute_missing_with_transform_keeps_valid_links(self):
+        """An anchor lacking href must not silently lose the valid links."""
+        html = """<div class='wrap'>
+          <ul>
+            <li><a class='lnk' href='http://x'>a</a></li>
+            <li><a class='lnk'>b</a></li>
+            <li><a class='lnk' href='http://z'>c</a></li>
+          </ul>
+        </div>"""
+        schema = {
+            "name": "links",
+            "baseSelector": "div.wrap",
+            "fields": [
+                {
+                    "name": "links",
+                    "selector": "a.lnk",
+                    "type": "list",
+                    "fields": [
+                        {
+                            "name": "href",
+                            "type": "attribute",
+                            "attribute": "href",
+                            "transform": "lowercase",
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+            ],
+        }
+        results = JsonCssExtractionStrategy(schema).extract(None, html)
+        assert len(results) == 1
+        links = results[0]["links"]
+        assert links[0] == {"href": "http://x"}
+        assert links[1] == {}
+        assert links[2] == {"href": "http://z"}
+
+    def test_transform_still_applied_when_value_present(self):
+        """The guard must not disable transform for genuine values."""
+        html = "<div class='row'><span class='name'>HeLLo</span></div>"
+        schema = {
+            "name": "names",
+            "baseSelector": "div.row",
+            "fields": [
+                {
+                    "name": "name",
+                    "selector": "span.name",
+                    "type": "text",
+                    "transform": "lowercase",
+                },
+            ],
+        }
+        results = JsonCssExtractionStrategy(schema).extract(None, html)
+        assert results == [{"name": "hello"}]
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# XPath strategy (same shared base-class code path)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+class TestXPathTransformNoneGuard:
+    """JsonXPathExtractionStrategy exercises the same _extract_single_field."""
+
+    def test_attribute_missing_with_transform_returns_default(self):
+        html = "<div class='row'><a class='lnk'>b</a></div>"
+        schema = {
+            "name": "links",
+            "baseSelector": "//div[@class='row']",
+            "fields": [
+                {
+                    "name": "href",
+                    "selector": ".//a[@class='lnk']",
+                    "type": "attribute",
+                    "attribute": "href",
+                    "transform": "lowercase",
+                    "default": "no-href",
+                },
+            ],
+        }
+        results = JsonXPathExtractionStrategy(schema).extract(None, html)
+        assert results == [{"href": "no-href"}]
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    pytest.main([__file__, "-v"])