diff --git a/src/playlist/cue/CueParser.cxx b/src/playlist/cue/CueParser.cxx
index 4e79027a4..26d5c4945 100644
--- a/src/playlist/cue/CueParser.cxx
+++ b/src/playlist/cue/CueParser.cxx
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ cue_next_quoted(std::string_view &src) noexcept
 	auto end = src.find('"');
 	if (end == src.npos)
 		/* syntax error - ignore it silently */
-		return std::exchange(src, nullptr);
+		return std::exchange(src, {});
 
 	auto value = src.substr(0, end);
 	src = src.substr(end + 1);