diff --git a/cJSON.c b/cJSON.c
index fd83a2d..ed2246e 100644
--- a/cJSON.c
+++ b/cJSON.c
@@ -2278,7 +2278,7 @@ CJSON_PUBLIC(cJSON *) cJSON_CreateStringArray(const char **strings, int count)
     cJSON *p = NULL;
     cJSON *a = NULL;
 
-    if (count < 0)
+    if ((count < 0) || (strings == NULL))
     {
         return NULL;
     }