diff --git a/src/test/test-strbuf.c b/src/test/test-strbuf.c
index 0cdef3fb72..a7c2f83c73 100644
--- a/src/test/test-strbuf.c
+++ b/src/test/test-strbuf.c
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ static void test_strbuf(void) {
 
         /* check the content of the buffer directly */
         l = strv_parse_nulstr(sb->buf, sb->len);
+        assert_se(l);
 
         assert_se(streq(l[0], "")); /* root */
         assert_se(streq(l[1], "waldo"));