diff --git a/source/build/src/mdsprite.cpp b/source/build/src/mdsprite.cpp
index ad9e6629a..da0dd342c 100644
--- a/source/build/src/mdsprite.cpp
+++ b/source/build/src/mdsprite.cpp
@@ -677,7 +677,7 @@ int32_t mdloadskin(md2model_t *m, int32_t number, int32_t pal, int32_t surf)
     if (pal >= (MAXPALOOKUPS - RESERVEDPALS))
         for (i=0; i<nextmodelid; i++)
             for (skzero = ((md2model_t *)models[i])->skinmap; skzero; skzero = skzero->next)
-                if (!Bstrcasecmp(skzero->fn, sk->fn) && skzero->texid[hicfxid(pal)])
+                if (!Bstrcasecmp(skzero->fn, sk->fn) && skzero->texid[hicfxid(pal)] && sk)
                 {
                     size_t f = hicfxid(pal);