diff --git a/polymer/eduke32/build/src/mdsprite.c b/polymer/eduke32/build/src/mdsprite.c
index eb9811da2..add4ff554 100644
--- a/polymer/eduke32/build/src/mdsprite.c
+++ b/polymer/eduke32/build/src/mdsprite.c
@@ -822,15 +822,16 @@ int32_t mdloadskin(md2model_t *m, int32_t number, int32_t pal, int32_t surf)
         return *texidx;
 
     // possibly fetch an already loaded texture
-    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[hicfxmask(pal)])
-            {
-                int32_t f = hicfxmask(pal);
+    if (sk)
+        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[hicfxmask(pal)])
+                {
+                    int32_t f = hicfxmask(pal);
 
-                sk->texid[f] = skzero->texid[f];
-                return sk->texid[f];
-            }
+                    sk->texid[f] = skzero->texid[f];
+                    return sk->texid[f];
+                }
 
     *texidx = 0;