diff --git a/libs/util/msg.c b/libs/util/msg.c
index 13bc20914..1c6a42578 100644
--- a/libs/util/msg.c
+++ b/libs/util/msg.c
@@ -287,6 +287,8 @@ MSG_ReadString (msg_t *msg)
 			msg->badread_string = malloc (len + 1);
 			msg->badread_string_size = len + 1;
 		}
+		if (!msg->badread_string)
+			Sys_Error ("MSG_ReadString: out of memory\n");
 		strncpy (msg->badread_string, string, len);
 		msg->badread_string[len] = 0;
 		return msg->badread_string;