diff --git a/tasks/task_content.c b/tasks/task_content.c
index 4ca0f0ba67..d8581b03de 100644
--- a/tasks/task_content.c
+++ b/tasks/task_content.c
@@ -1772,10 +1772,13 @@ void content_set_subsystem(unsigned idx)
 
    pending_subsystem_id                         = idx;
 
-   strlcpy(pending_subsystem_ident,
-	   subsystem->ident, sizeof(pending_subsystem_ident));
+   if (subsystem)
+   {
+      strlcpy(pending_subsystem_ident,
+         subsystem->ident, sizeof(pending_subsystem_ident));
 
-   pending_subsystem_rom_num                    = subsystem->num_roms;
+      pending_subsystem_rom_num                    = subsystem->num_roms;
+   }
 
    RARCH_LOG("[subsystem] settings current subsytem to: %d(%s) roms: %d\n",
       pending_subsystem_id, pending_subsystem_ident, pending_subsystem_rom_num);