diff --git a/reactos/dll/win32/shell32/CShellLink.cpp b/reactos/dll/win32/shell32/CShellLink.cpp
index 396389aed1a..d2208a5b52d 100644
--- a/reactos/dll/win32/shell32/CShellLink.cpp
+++ b/reactos/dll/win32/shell32/CShellLink.cpp
@@ -1916,7 +1916,7 @@ HRESULT WINAPI CShellLink::InvokeCommand(LPCMINVOKECOMMANDINFO lpici)
     sei.lpVerb = L"open";
 
     // HACK for ShellExecuteExW
-    if (wcsstr(sPath, L".cpl"))
+    if (sPath && wcsstr(sPath, L".cpl"))
         sei.lpVerb = L"cplopen";
 
     if (ShellExecuteExW(&sei))