diff --git a/src/dvr/dvr_db.c b/src/dvr/dvr_db.c
index 71c97625..67af82ba 100644
--- a/src/dvr/dvr_db.c
+++ b/src/dvr/dvr_db.c
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ dvr_charset_update(dvr_config_t *cfg, const char *charset)
   free(cfg->dvr_charset_id);
   s = charset ? charset : intlconv_filesystem_charset();
   id = intlconv_charset_id(s, 1, 1);
-  cfg->dvr_charset = strdup(s);
+  cfg->dvr_charset = s ? strdup(s) : NULL;
   cfg->dvr_charset_id = id ? strdup(id) : NULL;
 }