diff --git a/libpkgconf/client.c b/libpkgconf/client.c
index f5f4717..811e043 100644
--- a/libpkgconf/client.c
+++ b/libpkgconf/client.c
@@ -324,6 +324,9 @@ pkgconf_trace(const pkgconf_client_t *client, const char *filename, size_t linen
 	size_t len;
 	va_list va;
 
+	if (client == NULL)
+		return false;
+
 	len = snprintf(errbuf, sizeof errbuf, "%s:" SIZE_FMT_SPECIFIER " [%s]: ", filename, lineno, funcname);
 
 	va_start(va, format);