diff --git a/src/fu-main.c b/src/fu-main.c
index 49a2281df..299458029 100644
--- a/src/fu-main.c
+++ b/src/fu-main.c
@@ -1820,8 +1820,18 @@ fu_main_daemon_get_property(GDBusConnection *connection_,
 		return g_variant_new_string(tmp);
 	}
 
-	if (g_strcmp0(property_name, "HostSecurityId") == 0)
-		return g_variant_new_string(fu_engine_get_host_security_id(priv->engine));
+	if (g_strcmp0(property_name, "HostSecurityId") == 0) {
+		const gchar *tmp = fu_engine_get_host_security_id(priv->engine);
+		if (tmp == NULL) {
+			g_set_error(error,
+				    G_DBUS_ERROR,
+				    G_DBUS_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED,
+				    "failed to get daemon property %s",
+				    property_name);
+			return NULL;
+		}
+		return g_variant_new_string(tmp);
+	}
 
 	if (g_strcmp0(property_name, "Interactive") == 0)
 		return g_variant_new_boolean(isatty(fileno(stdout)) != 0);