diff --git a/lib/ckpt.c b/lib/ckpt.c
index 58420829..db15f235 100644
--- a/lib/ckpt.c
+++ b/lib/ckpt.c
@@ -1327,6 +1327,10 @@ saCkptCheckpointWrite (
 	struct iovec iov[3];
 	int iov_len = 0;
 
+	if (ioVector == NULL) {
+		return (SA_AIS_ERR_INVALID_PARAM);
+	}
+
 	error = saHandleInstanceGet (&checkpointHandleDatabase, checkpointHandle,
 		(void *)&ckptCheckpointInstance);
 	if (error != SA_AIS_OK) {