Torches can’t be placed when in offhand slot and nog holding anything

I was playing Minecraft vanilla survival mode. When I play in survival I usually put torches in my offhand slot so I can place them while mining. When I wanted to place a torch when I held nothing in my main hand the torch wouldn’t be placed, but the torch amount went down. When I held a weapon again I could place a torch, and the amount went back up to what it was before minus the one I just placed.

 
What I expected to happen was...:
I wanted to place a torch with nothing in my main hand.
 
What actually happened was...:
Instead, it placed nothing but the counter went down.
 
Steps to Reproduce:
put torches in your offhand slot and place one without holding anything in your main hand.