diff --git a/lolcat.c b/lolcat.c
index a7fc7c3..5c62baf 100644
--- a/lolcat.c
+++ b/lolcat.c
@@ -138,7 +138,8 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         inputs_end = inputs + 1;
     }
 
-    if (force_locale && !strstr(getenv("LANG"), "UTF-8"))
+    char* env_lang = getenv("LANG");
+    if (force_locale && env_lang && !strstr(env_lang, "UTF-8"))
         setlocale(LC_ALL, "C.UTF-8");
     else
         setlocale(LC_ALL, "");