diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dbc875db..0e07c78d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ In this release, the schema version has changed from 27 to 28.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Panic on using `--no-etc-hosts` flag ([#6644]).
 - Schedule display in the client settings after creating or updating.
 - Zero value in `querylog.size_memory` disables logging ([#6570]).
 - Non-anonymized IP addresses on the dashboard ([#6584]).
@@ -95,6 +96,7 @@ In this release, the schema version has changed from 27 to 28.
 [#6570]: https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/issues/6570
 [#6574]: https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/issues/6574
 [#6584]: https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/issues/6584
+[#6644]: https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/issues/6644
 
 [wiki-config]: https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/wiki/Configuration
 
diff --git a/internal/home/home.go b/internal/home/home.go
index f0a037c0..701e4820 100644
--- a/internal/home/home.go
+++ b/internal/home/home.go
@@ -360,6 +360,11 @@ func setupDNSFilteringConf(conf *filtering.Config) (err error) {
 	)
 
 	conf.EtcHosts = Context.etcHosts
+	// TODO(s.chzhen):  Use empty interface.
+	if Context.etcHosts == nil {
+		conf.EtcHosts = nil
+	}
+
 	conf.ConfigModified = onConfigModified
 	conf.HTTPRegister = httpRegister
 	conf.DataDir = Context.getDataDir()