diff --git a/src/settings.cpp b/src/settings.cpp
index 2cce2d35c4..cae88d1894 100644
--- a/src/settings.cpp
+++ b/src/settings.cpp
@@ -1133,7 +1133,7 @@ static void AILoadConfig(IniFile *ini, const char *grpname)
 				continue;
 			}
 		}
-		config->StringToSettings(item->value);
+		if (item->value != NULL) config->StringToSettings(item->value);
 	}
 }