diff --git a/src/compiler/interface.jl b/src/compiler/interface.jl
index d9dd1b2cb..97a797025 100644
--- a/src/compiler/interface.jl
+++ b/src/compiler/interface.jl
@@ -40,9 +40,13 @@ _pullback(f, args...) = _pullback(Context(), f, args...)
 tailmemaybe(::Nothing) = nothing
 tailmemaybe(x::Tuple) = Base.tail(x)
 
+replacezero(t) = ntuple(i -> t[i] isa AbstractZero ? nothing : t[i], length(t))
+replacezero(::Nothing) = nothing
+replacezero(::AbstractZero) = nothing
+
 function pullback(f, args...)
   y, back = _pullback(f, args...)
-  y, Δ -> tailmemaybe(back(Δ))
+  y, Δ -> replacezero(tailmemaybe(back(Δ)))
 end
 
 sensitivity(y::Number) = one(y)