diff --git a/libavutil/opt.c b/libavutil/opt.c
index afa0c0ebc0..87ac570e5a 100644
--- a/libavutil/opt.c
+++ b/libavutil/opt.c
@@ -1294,6 +1294,9 @@ const AVOption *av_opt_find2(void *obj, const char *name, const char *unit,
 
     c= *(AVClass**)obj;
 
+    if (!c)
+        return NULL;
+
     if (search_flags & AV_OPT_SEARCH_CHILDREN) {
         if (search_flags & AV_OPT_SEARCH_FAKE_OBJ) {
             const AVClass *child = NULL;