diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c
index 1b3136de..0e14e4c1 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c
@@ -1709,7 +1709,7 @@ get_modified_xattrs (OstreeRepo                       *self,
         goto out;
     }
 
-  if (modifier->sepolicy)
+  if (modifier && modifier->sepolicy)
     {
       gs_free char *label = NULL;