diff --git a/src/osgDB/Registry.cpp b/src/osgDB/Registry.cpp
index 465262b13..65cad928b 100644
--- a/src/osgDB/Registry.cpp
+++ b/src/osgDB/Registry.cpp
@@ -224,6 +224,7 @@ void Registry::initLibraryFilePathList()
     if( !(ptr = getenv( "LD_LIBRARYN32_PATH" )))
         ptr = getenv( "LD_LIBRARY_PATH" );
 
+    if( ptr )
     {
         convertStringPathIntoFilePathList(ptr,_libraryFilePath);
     }