diff --git a/src/librc/librc-misc.c b/src/librc/librc-misc.c
index 5c7e3660..25d230cd 100644
--- a/src/librc/librc-misc.c
+++ b/src/librc/librc-misc.c
@@ -203,6 +203,9 @@ char *rc_config_value(RC_STRINGLIST *list, const char *entry)
 	RC_STRING *line;
 	char *p;
 
+	if (!list)
+		return NULL;
+
 	TAILQ_FOREACH(line, list, entries) {
 		p = strchr(line->value, '=');
 		if (p &&
diff --git a/src/rc/rc-misc.c b/src/rc/rc-misc.c
index e802ee4f..42d9e532 100644
--- a/src/rc/rc-misc.c
+++ b/src/rc/rc-misc.c
@@ -79,20 +79,24 @@ char *rc_conf_value(const char *setting)
 		if (exists(RC_CONF_OLD)) {
 			old = rc_config_load(RC_CONF_OLD);
 			if (old) {
-				TAILQ_CONCAT(rc_conf, old, entries);
-				free(old);
+				if (rc_conf) {
+					TAILQ_CONCAT(rc_conf, old, entries);
+					free(old);
+				} else
+					rc_conf = old;
 			}
 		}
 
 		/* Convert old uppercase to lowercase */
-		TAILQ_FOREACH(s, rc_conf, entries) {
-			p = s->value;
-			while (p && *p && *p != '=') {
-				if (isupper((int) *p))
-					*p = tolower((int) *p);
-				p++;
+		if (rc_conf)
+			TAILQ_FOREACH(s, rc_conf, entries) {
+				p = s->value;
+				while (p && *p && *p != '=') {
+					if (isupper((int) *p))
+						*p = tolower((int) *p);
+					p++;
+				}
 			}
-		}
 	}
 
 	return rc_config_value(rc_conf, setting);