diff --git a/plugins-root/check_icmp.c b/plugins-root/check_icmp.c
index 274277b7..197ce32f 100644
--- a/plugins-root/check_icmp.c
+++ b/plugins-root/check_icmp.c
@@ -758,6 +758,10 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	host = list;
 	table = malloc(sizeof(struct rta_host *) * targets);
+	if(!table) {
+		crash("main(): malloc failed for host table");
+		return 3;
+	}
 
 	i = 0;
 	while(host) {