diff --git a/src/client/src/tscSystem.c b/src/client/src/tscSystem.c
index b373095f9571229e001b09500af6da84f2e5086e..cb4b710fe712b02c7ea657bcabaa6d42ee35d95c 100644
--- a/src/client/src/tscSystem.c
+++ b/src/client/src/tscSystem.c
@@ -329,6 +329,10 @@ static int taos_options_imp(TSDB_OPTION option, const char *pStr) {
           cfg->cfgStatus = TAOS_CFG_CSTATUS_OPTION;
         } else { // set the user specified locale failed, use default LC_CTYPE as current locale
           locale = setlocale(LC_CTYPE, tsLocale);
+          if (locale == NULL) {
+            tscError("failed to set locale:%s failed, neither default LC_CTYPE: %s", pStr, tsLocale);
+            return -1;
+          }
           tscInfo("failed to set locale:%s, current locale:%s", pStr, tsLocale);
         }