diff --git a/strings/xml.c b/strings/xml.c
index 6ba52ea41a8..cec15b99f10 100644
--- a/strings/xml.c
+++ b/strings/xml.c
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ static int my_xml_scan(MY_XML_PARSER *p,MY_XML_ATTR *a)
   a->beg=p->cur;
   a->end=p->cur;
   
-  if (!bcmp(p->cur,"<!--",4))
+  if ((p->end - p->cur > 3) && !bcmp(p->cur,"<!--",4))
   {
     for( ; (p->cur < p->end) && bcmp(p->cur, "-->", 3); p->cur++)
     {}