diff --git a/lib/roken/strpool.c b/lib/roken/strpool.c
index dc5689214..60eddc633 100644
--- a/lib/roken/strpool.c
+++ b/lib/roken/strpool.c
@@ -100,7 +100,10 @@ rk_strpoolprintf(struct rk_strpool *p, const char *fmt, ...)
 char * ROKEN_LIB_FUNCTION
 rk_strpoolcollect(struct rk_strpool *p)
 {
-    char *str = p->str;
+    char *str;
+    if (p == NULL)
+	return strdup("");
+    str =  = p->str;
     p->str = NULL;
     free(p);
     return str;