diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 251a1fec..7ffe74a9 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ procps-ng-NEXT
   * ps: recognizes SCHED_DEADLINE as valid CPU scheduler
   * ps: display NUMA node under which a thread ran         issue #58
   * sysctl: Permit empty string for value                  issue #74
+  * sysctl: Don't segv when file not available             issue #76
   * top: add config file support for XDG specification
   * top: eliminated minor libnuma memory leak
   * top: show fewer memory decimal places (configurable)   issue #50
diff --git a/sysctl.c b/sysctl.c
index 70042215..9356910f 100644
--- a/sysctl.c
+++ b/sysctl.c
@@ -220,9 +220,6 @@ static int ReadSetting(const char *restrict const name)
 
 	fp = fopen(tmpname, "r");
 
-	if (iobuf)
-		setvbuf(fp, iobuf, _IOFBF, IOBUFSIZ);
-
 	if (!fp) {
 		switch (errno) {
 		case ENOENT:
@@ -244,6 +241,9 @@ static int ReadSetting(const char *restrict const name)
 			break;
 		}
 	} else {
+	    if (iobuf)
+            setvbuf(fp, iobuf, _IOFBF, IOBUFSIZ);
+
 		errno = 0;
 		if (fgets(inbuf, sizeof inbuf - 1, fp)) {
 			/* this loop is required, see