diff --git a/channels/chan_iax2.c b/channels/chan_iax2.c
index 7f0bf1a554bc2c19ab610723abe54a225df6cb2a..528c10c5e3ad765379009e85bbc75b99b2c962ac 100644
--- a/channels/chan_iax2.c
+++ b/channels/chan_iax2.c
@@ -2964,7 +2964,7 @@ static struct iax2_peer *realtime_peer(const char *peername, struct sockaddr_in
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	if (!var) { /* Last ditch effort */
+	if (!var && peername) { /* Last ditch effort */
 		var = ast_load_realtime("iaxpeers", "name", peername, NULL);
 		/*!\note
 		 * If this one loaded something, then we need to ensure that the host