diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b8f5a72d0..0a1682f95 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 * fixes a bug not increasing but decreasing timeout throttle factor of ThrottlingQueue
 * handle DecodeError and unexpected Exceptions on requests in `http_input` separately
 
+* fixes unbound local error in http input connector 
+
 ## 13.1.1
 ### Improvements
 
diff --git a/logprep/framework/pipeline.py b/logprep/framework/pipeline.py
index 1d7a35ea6..06d1894c4 100644
--- a/logprep/framework/pipeline.py
+++ b/logprep/framework/pipeline.py
@@ -257,6 +257,7 @@ def process_pipeline(self) -> PipelineResult:
         Component.run_pending_tasks()
 
         event = self._get_event()
+        result = None
         if not event:
             return None, None
         if self._pipeline:
diff --git a/tests/unit/framework/test_pipeline.py b/tests/unit/framework/test_pipeline.py
index 2f30825a6..4c4a2f36f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/framework/test_pipeline.py
+++ b/tests/unit/framework/test_pipeline.py
@@ -625,6 +625,15 @@ def test_pipeline_result_provides_event_received(self, _):
         assert result.event_received == {"some": "event"}, "received event is as expected"
         assert result.event == {"some": "event", "field": "foo"}, "processed event is as expected"
 
+    def test_process_event_can_be_bypassed_with_no_pipeline(self, _):
+        self.pipeline._pipeline = []
+        self.pipeline._input.get_next.return_value = ({"some": "event"}, None)
+        with mock.patch("logprep.framework.pipeline.Pipeline.process_event") as mock_process_event:
+            mock_process_event.return_value = None
+            result = self.pipeline.process_pipeline()
+        mock_process_event.assert_not_called()
+        assert isinstance(result, type(None))
+
 
 class TestPipelineWithActualInput:
     def setup_method(self):