diff --git a/src/bin/e_utils.c b/src/bin/e_utils.c
index a941ee349..177cbfe23 100644
--- a/src/bin/e_utils.c
+++ b/src/bin/e_utils.c
@@ -652,6 +652,7 @@ e_util_filename_escape(const char *filename)
    char *q;
    static char buf[4096];
 
+   if (!filename) return NULL;
    p = filename;
    q = buf;
    while (*p)