diff --git a/typo3/sysext/frontend/Classes/ContentObject/ContentObjectRenderer.php b/typo3/sysext/frontend/Classes/ContentObject/ContentObjectRenderer.php
index 61c4afb83e60..f9441eeba71f 100644
--- a/typo3/sysext/frontend/Classes/ContentObject/ContentObjectRenderer.php
+++ b/typo3/sysext/frontend/Classes/ContentObject/ContentObjectRenderer.php
@@ -6084,8 +6084,12 @@ public function getQuery($table, $conf, $returnQueryArray = false)
 
                 try {
                     $count = $countQueryBuilder->executeQuery()->fetchOne();
-                    $conf['max'] = str_ireplace('total', $count, $conf['max']);
-                    $conf['begin'] = str_ireplace('total', $count, $conf['begin']);
+                    if (isset($conf['max'])) {
+                        $conf['max'] = str_ireplace('total', $count, (string)$conf['max']);
+                    }
+                    if (isset($conf['begin'])) {
+                        $conf['begin'] = str_ireplace('total', $count, (string)$conf['begin']);
+                    }
                 } catch (DBALException $e) {
                     $this->getTimeTracker()->setTSlogMessage($e->getPrevious()->getMessage());
                     $error = true;
@@ -6093,12 +6097,14 @@ public function getQuery($table, $conf, $returnQueryArray = false)
             }
 
             if (!$error) {
-                $conf['begin'] = MathUtility::forceIntegerInRange((int)ceil($this->calc($conf['begin'] ?? '')), 0);
-                $conf['max'] = MathUtility::forceIntegerInRange((int)ceil($this->calc($conf['max'] ?? '')), 0);
-                if ($conf['begin'] > 0) {
+                if (isset($conf['begin']) && $conf['begin'] > 0) {
+                    $conf['begin'] = MathUtility::forceIntegerInRange((int)ceil($this->calc($conf['begin'])), 0);
                     $queryBuilder->setFirstResult($conf['begin']);
                 }
-                $queryBuilder->setMaxResults($conf['max'] ?: 100000);
+                if (isset($conf['max'])) {
+                    $conf['max'] = MathUtility::forceIntegerInRange((int)ceil($this->calc($conf['max'])), 0);
+                    $queryBuilder->setMaxResults($conf['max'] ?: 100000);
+                }
             }
         }