diff --git a/match.c b/match.c
index 22428e300..ec5218dc6 100644
--- a/match.c
+++ b/match.c
@@ -540,9 +540,11 @@ usergr_matches(group, user, pw)
 	    if (grp->gr_gid == user_groups[n])
 		return(TRUE);
     }
-    for (cur = grp->gr_mem; *cur; cur++)
-	if (strcmp(*cur, user) == 0)
-	    return(TRUE);
+    if (grp->gr_mem != NULL) {
+	for (cur = grp->gr_mem; *cur; cur++)
+	    if (strcmp(*cur, user) == 0)
+		return(TRUE);
+    }
 
     return(FALSE);
 }