diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/dictionary.c b/src/libespeak-ng/dictionary.c
index 2b5f7b9e..2569e5b7 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/dictionary.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/dictionary.c
@@ -2822,7 +2822,7 @@ static const char *LookupDict2(Translator *tr, const char *word, const char *wor
 		}
 
 		ix = utf8_in(&c, word);
-		if ((word[ix] == 0) && !IsAlpha(c))
+		if (flags != NULL && (word[ix] == 0) && !IsAlpha(c))
 			flags[0] |= FLAG_MAX3;
 		return word_end;