diff --git a/lib/libpam/modules/pam_xdg/pam_xdg.c b/lib/libpam/modules/pam_xdg/pam_xdg.c
index 4d586a21566a81..2c80f0a0332f2f 100644
--- a/lib/libpam/modules/pam_xdg/pam_xdg.c
+++ b/lib/libpam/modules/pam_xdg/pam_xdg.c
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ _pam_xdg_open(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags __unused,
 
 	/* Get user info */
 	rv = pam_get_item(pamh, PAM_USER, (const void **)&user);
-	if (rv != PAM_SUCCESS) {
+	if (rv != PAM_SUCCESS || user == NULL) {
 		PAM_VERBOSE_ERROR("Can't get user information");
 		goto out;
 	}
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ _pam_xdg_close(pam_handle_t *pamh __unused, int flags __unused,
 
 	/* Get user info */
 	rv = pam_get_item(pamh, PAM_USER, (const void **)&user);
-	if (rv != PAM_SUCCESS) {
+	if (rv != PAM_SUCCESS || user == NULL) {
 		PAM_VERBOSE_ERROR("Can't get user information");
 		goto out;
 	}