diff --git a/src/util/virperf.c b/src/util/virperf.c
index fa5b6cca64977dfa3a69616bab26da1bd3c3eb66..2c832b34eb116e551d10d1c019092db077f8c377 100644
--- a/src/util/virperf.c
+++ b/src/util/virperf.c
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ virPerfEventDisable(virPerfPtr perf,
 bool virPerfEventIsEnabled(virPerfPtr perf,
                            virPerfEventType type)
 {
-    return perf->events[type].enabled;
+    return perf && perf->events[type].enabled;
 }
 
 int