diff --git a/src/libcephfs.cc b/src/libcephfs.cc
index 0446edb99f1..a196dc669d9 100644
--- a/src/libcephfs.cc
+++ b/src/libcephfs.cc
@@ -1224,9 +1224,11 @@ extern "C" int ceph_get_osd_crush_location(struct ceph_mount_info *cmount,
     string& name = it->second;
     needed += type.size() + name.size() + 2;
     if (needed <= len) {
-      strcpy(path + cur, type.c_str());
+      if (path)
+	strcpy(path + cur, type.c_str());
       cur += type.size() + 1;
-      strcpy(path + cur, name.c_str());
+      if (path)
+	strcpy(path + cur, name.c_str());
       cur += name.size() + 1;
     }
   }