diff --git a/src/iniparser.c b/src/iniparser.c
index 06f6433b7d8ee346a72f3807fe397e14d29837e0..2879c4d3ef47618519ed2b5efc00e5bc75595b49 100644
--- a/src/iniparser.c
+++ b/src/iniparser.c
@@ -63,11 +63,11 @@ static void strlwc(char * s)
 /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 void strstrip(char * s)
 {
+    if (s==NULL) return ;
+
     char *last = s + strlen(s);
     char *dest = s;
     
-    if (s==NULL) return ;
-    
     while (isspace((int)*s) && *s) s++;
     while (last > s) {
         if (!isspace((int)*(last-1)))