diff --git a/src/agents/items.py b/src/agents/items.py
index c761cc221f..cab1865042 100644
--- a/src/agents/items.py
+++ b/src/agents/items.py
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ def extract_last_content(cls, message: TResponseOutputItem) -> str:
             # ``extract_text`` below.
             return last_content.text or ""
         elif isinstance(last_content, ResponseOutputRefusal):
-            return last_content.refusal
+            return last_content.refusal or ""
         else:
             raise ModelBehaviorError(f"Unexpected content type: {type(last_content)}")