diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc
index 3ce748b0..17894560 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ QPDFObjectHandle::disconnect()
     // Recursively remove association with any QPDF object. This method may only be called during
     // final destruction. QPDF::~QPDF() calls it for indirect objects using the object pointer
     // itself, so we don't do that here. Other objects call it through this method.
-    if (!isIndirect()) {
+    if (obj && !isIndirect()) {
         this->obj->disconnect();
     }
 }