diff --git a/mysys/charset.c b/mysys/charset.c
index f8c8237c88b..b911f29627c 100644
--- a/mysys/charset.c
+++ b/mysys/charset.c
@@ -540,7 +540,7 @@ static CHARSET_INFO *get_internal_charset(uint cs_number, myf flags)
      strxmov(get_charsets_dir(buf), cs->csname, ".xml", NullS);
      my_read_charset_file(buf,flags);
   }
-  cs= (cs->state & MY_CS_AVAILABLE) ? cs : NULL;
+  cs= (cs && cs->state & MY_CS_AVAILABLE) ? cs : NULL;
   pthread_mutex_unlock(&THR_LOCK_charset);
   return cs;
 }