diff --git a/src/log.c b/src/log.c
index 6c01248e3..f7d160dcf 100644
--- a/src/log.c
+++ b/src/log.c
@@ -775,7 +775,7 @@ void send_log(struct proxy *p, int level, const char *format, ...)
 	if (level < 0 || format == NULL || logline == NULL)
 		return;
 
-	dataptr = update_log_hdr(p->log_tag ? p->log_tag : global.log_tag); /* update log header and skip it */
+	dataptr = update_log_hdr(p && p->log_tag ? p->log_tag : global.log_tag); /* update log header and skip it */
 	data_len = dataptr - logline;
 
 	va_start(argp, format);