diff --git a/src/gb/core.c b/src/gb/core.c
index f1358ee69..68c2d2985 100644
--- a/src/gb/core.c
+++ b/src/gb/core.c
@@ -1084,7 +1084,7 @@ static void _GBCoreDetachDebugger(struct mCore* core) {
 static void _GBCoreLoadSymbols(struct mCore* core, struct VFile* vf) {
 	core->symbolTable = mDebuggerSymbolTableCreate();
 #if !defined(MINIMAL_CORE) || MINIMAL_CORE < 2
-	if (!vf) {
+	if (!vf && core->dirs.base) {
 		vf = mDirectorySetOpenSuffix(&core->dirs, core->dirs.base, ".sym", O_RDONLY);
 	}
 #endif
diff --git a/src/gba/core.c b/src/gba/core.c
index 7a4650a33..7c1e19d21 100644
--- a/src/gba/core.c
+++ b/src/gba/core.c
@@ -1149,12 +1149,12 @@ static void _GBACoreLoadSymbols(struct mCore* core, struct VFile* vf) {
 	core->symbolTable = mDebuggerSymbolTableCreate();
 #if !defined(MINIMAL_CORE) || MINIMAL_CORE < 2
 #ifdef USE_ELF
-	if (!vf) {
+	if (!vf && core->dirs.base) {
 		closeAfter = true;
 		vf = mDirectorySetOpenSuffix(&core->dirs, core->dirs.base, ".elf", O_RDONLY);
 	}
 #endif
-	if (!vf) {
+	if (!vf && core->dirs.base) {
 		closeAfter = true;
 		vf = mDirectorySetOpenSuffix(&core->dirs, core->dirs.base, ".sym", O_RDONLY);
 	}