diff --git a/apps/app_directed_pickup.c b/apps/app_directed_pickup.c
index 55001abcb2214aa247cd4eff0332247956a77eb7..c79bad26ffb33488f3d6347b168c9082bd71405f 100644
--- a/apps/app_directed_pickup.c
+++ b/apps/app_directed_pickup.c
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ static int pickup_exec(struct ast_channel *chan, void *data)
 			*context++ = '\0';
 
 		/* If the context is the pickup mark, iterate through all channels finding the right origin one */
-		if (!strcmp(context, PICKUPMARK)) {
+		if (context && !strcmp(context, PICKUPMARK)) {
 			while ((origin = ast_channel_walk_locked(origin))) {
 				if (origin) {
 					tmp2 = pbx_builtin_getvar_helper(origin, PICKUPMARK);