diff --git a/src/common/slurm_protocol_socket_implementation.c b/src/common/slurm_protocol_socket_implementation.c
index 1123e5320a4c74b5f080be60938780a1c5862fa2..486da658663408627eb46143ae7444e49c8ea1d9 100644
--- a/src/common/slurm_protocol_socket_implementation.c
+++ b/src/common/slurm_protocol_socket_implementation.c
@@ -776,6 +776,12 @@ extern void slurm_print_slurm_addr ( slurm_addr_t * address, char *buf,
 				     size_t n )
 {
 	char addrbuf[INET_ADDRSTRLEN];
+
+	if (!address) {
+		snprintf(buf, n, "NULL");
+		return;
+	}
+
 	inet_ntop(AF_INET, &address->sin_addr, addrbuf, INET_ADDRSTRLEN);
 	/* warning: silently truncates */
 	snprintf(buf, n, "%s:%d", addrbuf, ntohs(address->sin_port));