diff --git a/cJSON_Utils.c b/cJSON_Utils.c
index bcdbb644d7d325ebfa948f8cb731a322bd7d3ab4..3e317ae141551800f94b77ca0fa3ec3cf88de203 100644
--- a/cJSON_Utils.c
+++ b/cJSON_Utils.c
@@ -550,6 +550,10 @@ static cJSON *sort_list(cJSON *list, const cJSON_bool case_sensitive)
 
 static void sort_object(cJSON * const object, const cJSON_bool case_sensitive)
 {
+    if (object == NULL)
+    {
+        return;
+    }
     object->child = sort_list(object->child, case_sensitive);
 }