diff --git a/src/cfgparse.c b/src/cfgparse.c
index 154802eeb..de88d841c 100644
--- a/src/cfgparse.c
+++ b/src/cfgparse.c
@@ -6144,6 +6144,9 @@ cfg_parse_users(const char *file, int linenum, char **args, int kwm)
 			goto out;
 		}
 
+		if (!userlist)
+			goto out;
+
 		for (ag = userlist->groups; ag; ag = ag->next)
 			if (!strcmp(ag->name, args[1])) {
 				Warning("parsing [%s:%d]: ignoring duplicated group '%s' in userlist '%s'.\n",
@@ -6194,6 +6197,8 @@ cfg_parse_users(const char *file, int linenum, char **args, int kwm)
 			err_code |= ERR_ALERT | ERR_FATAL;
 			goto out;
 		}
+		if (!userlist)
+			goto out;
 
 		for (newuser = userlist->users; newuser; newuser = newuser->next)
 			if (!strcmp(newuser->user, args[1])) {