diff --git a/oqsprov/oqsprov.c b/oqsprov/oqsprov.c
index b95a1741..ac5336f4 100644
--- a/oqsprov/oqsprov.c
+++ b/oqsprov/oqsprov.c
@@ -1164,7 +1164,7 @@ int OQS_PROVIDER_ENTRYPOINT_NAME(const OSSL_CORE_HANDLE *handle,
          * Not testing for errors is intentional.
          * At least one core version hangs up; so don't do this there:
          */
-        if (strcmp("3.1.0", ossl_versionp)) {
+        if (ossl_versionp && strcmp("3.1.0", ossl_versionp)) {
             ERR_set_mark();
             OBJ_create(oqs_oid_alg_list[i], oqs_oid_alg_list[i + 1],
                        oqs_oid_alg_list[i + 1]);