diff --git a/src/wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-templates-controller.php b/src/wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-templates-controller.php
index 9eb64707aea07..1c2a7697c4ec0 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-templates-controller.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-templates-controller.php
@@ -165,7 +165,8 @@ public function get_template_fallback( $request ) {
 			array_shift( $hierarchy );
 		} while ( ! empty( $hierarchy ) && empty( $fallback_template->content ) );
 
-		$response = $this->prepare_item_for_response( $fallback_template, $request );
+		// To maintain original behavior, return an empty object rather than a 404 error when no template is found.
+		$response = $fallback_template ? $this->prepare_item_for_response( $fallback_template, $request ) : new stdClass();
 
 		return rest_ensure_response( $response );
 	}
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/wpRestTemplatesController.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/wpRestTemplatesController.php
index 50678a686d561..376daffee2989 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/wpRestTemplatesController.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/wpRestTemplatesController.php
@@ -909,6 +909,19 @@ public function test_get_template_fallback() {
 		$this->assertSame( 'index', $response->get_data()['slug'], 'Should fallback to `index.html` when  ignore_empty is `true`.' );
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 60909
+	 * @covers WP_REST_Templates_Controller::get_template_fallback
+	 */
+	public function test_get_template_fallback_not_found() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$admin_id );
+		$request = new WP_REST_Request( 'GET', '/wp/v2/templates/lookup' );
+		$request->set_param( 'slug', 'not-found' );
+		$response = rest_get_server()->dispatch( $request );
+		$data     = $response->get_data();
+		$this->assertEquals( new stdClass(), $data, 'Response should be an empty object when a fallback template is not found.' );
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * @ticket 57851
 	 *