diff --git a/list-objects-filter.c b/list-objects-filter.c
index 1e8d4e763d..0a3ef3cab3 100644
--- a/list-objects-filter.c
+++ b/list-objects-filter.c
@@ -663,6 +663,9 @@ struct filter *list_objects_filter__init(
 
 	assert((sizeof(s_filters) / sizeof(s_filters[0])) == LOFC__COUNT);
 
+	if (!filter_options)
+		return NULL;
+
 	if (filter_options->choice >= LOFC__COUNT)
 		BUG("invalid list-objects filter choice: %d",
 		    filter_options->choice);