From c7a9cc6fc245bee8c6f2714b7af6f5c7a2c74634 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?R=C3=A9mi=20Hau?=
 <remi.hau.neosoft@externalgcp.ds.airbus.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2026 18:01:44 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix: not call destroy on destroyed step

---
 shepherd.js/src/step.ts             |  5 +++--
 shepherd.js/src/utils/type-check.ts |  8 ++++++++
 shepherd.js/test/unit/step.spec.js  | 13 +++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 24 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/shepherd.js/src/step.ts b/shepherd.js/src/step.ts
index 9e1587a0f..2d60dfbaf 100644
--- a/shepherd.js/src/step.ts
+++ b/shepherd.js/src/step.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ import {
   isElement,
   isHTMLElement,
   isFunction,
-  isUndefined
+  isUndefined,
+  isNull
 } from './utils/type-check.ts';
 import { bindAdvance } from './utils/bind.ts';
 import {
@@ -699,7 +700,7 @@ export class Step extends Evented {
    * @private
    */
   _setupElements() {
-    if (!isUndefined(this.el)) {
+    if (!isUndefined(this.el) && !isNull(this.el)) {
       this.destroy();
     }
 
diff --git a/shepherd.js/src/utils/type-check.ts b/shepherd.js/src/utils/type-check.ts
index adf211f15..35654b3af 100644
--- a/shepherd.js/src/utils/type-check.ts
+++ b/shepherd.js/src/utils/type-check.ts
@@ -37,3 +37,11 @@ export function isString<T>(value: T | string): value is string {
 export function isUndefined<T>(value: T | undefined): value is undefined {
   return value === undefined;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Checks if `value` is null.
+ * @param value The param to check if it is null
+ */
+export function isNull<T>(value: T | undefined | null): value is null {
+  return value === null;
+}
diff --git a/shepherd.js/test/unit/step.spec.js b/shepherd.js/test/unit/step.spec.js
index 3a7ec9d9f..75bee3794 100644
--- a/shepherd.js/test/unit/step.spec.js
+++ b/shepherd.js/test/unit/step.spec.js
@@ -441,6 +441,19 @@ describe('Tour | Step', () => {
       ).toBeTruthy();
     });
 
+    it('not calls destroy on the step if the step was destroyed', () => {
+      const step = new Step(tour, {});
+      let destroyCalled = false;
+      step.el = document.createElement('a');
+      step.destroy();
+      step.destroy = () => (destroyCalled = true);
+      step._setupElements();
+      expect(
+        destroyCalled,
+        '_setupElements method not called destroy if the step was destroyed'
+      ).toBeFalsy();
+    });
+
     it('calls destroy on the tooltip if it already exists', () => {
       const step = new Step(tour, {});
       let destroyCalled = false;