diff --git a/libcutils/native_handle.c b/libcutils/native_handle.c
index 40899685e..9a4a5bb38 100644
--- a/libcutils/native_handle.c
+++ b/libcutils/native_handle.c
@@ -30,9 +30,11 @@ native_handle_t* native_handle_create(int numFds, int numInts)
     native_handle_t* h = malloc(
             sizeof(native_handle_t) + sizeof(int)*(numFds+numInts));
 
-    h->version = sizeof(native_handle_t);
-    h->numFds = numFds;
-    h->numInts = numInts;
+    if (h) {
+        h->version = sizeof(native_handle_t);
+        h->numFds = numFds;
+        h->numInts = numInts;
+    }
     return h;
 }