diff --git a/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c b/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
index 8cbc0abcfd..c78022bb87 100644
--- a/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
@@ -49,10 +49,12 @@ static const QObject *qmp_input_get_object(QmpInputVisitor *qiv,
         qobj = qiv->stack[qiv->nb_stack - 1].obj;
     }
 
-    if (name && qobject_type(qobj) == QTYPE_QDICT) {
-        return qdict_get(qobject_to_qdict(qobj), name);
-    } else if (qiv->nb_stack > 0 && qobject_type(qobj) == QTYPE_QLIST) {
-        return qlist_entry_obj(qiv->stack[qiv->nb_stack - 1].entry);
+    if (qobj) {
+        if (name && qobject_type(qobj) == QTYPE_QDICT) {
+            return qdict_get(qobject_to_qdict(qobj), name);
+        } else if (qiv->nb_stack > 0 && qobject_type(qobj) == QTYPE_QLIST) {
+            return qlist_entry_obj(qiv->stack[qiv->nb_stack - 1].entry);
+        }
     }
 
     return qobj;