diff --git a/src/applet.c b/src/applet.c
index e24f66d05..84ffde6b8 100644
--- a/src/applet.c
+++ b/src/applet.c
@@ -33,10 +33,11 @@ void applet_run_active()
 	struct stream_interface *si;
 	struct list applet_cur_queue = LIST_HEAD_INIT(applet_cur_queue);
 
-	if (!applets_active_queue)
-		return;
-
 	HA_SPIN_LOCK(APPLETS_LOCK, &applet_active_lock);
+	if (!(active_applets_mask & tid_bit)) {
+		HA_SPIN_UNLOCK(APPLETS_LOCK, &applet_active_lock);
+		return;
+	}
 
 	curr = LIST_NEXT(&applet_active_queue, typeof(curr), runq);
 	while (&curr->runq != &applet_active_queue) {
diff --git a/src/haproxy.c b/src/haproxy.c
index 8f33e2695..ba5a4b208 100644
--- a/src/haproxy.c
+++ b/src/haproxy.c
@@ -2307,7 +2307,7 @@ static void run_poll_loop()
 			break;
 
 		/* expire immediately if events are pending */
-		if (fd_cache_num || (active_tasks_mask & tid_bit) || signal_queue_len || applets_active_queue)
+		if (fd_cache_num || (active_tasks_mask & tid_bit) || signal_queue_len || (active_applets_mask & tid_bit))
 			next = now_ms;
 
 		/* The poller will ensure it returns around <next> */