diff --git a/contrib/binutils/bfd/elfxx-mips.c b/contrib/binutils/bfd/elfxx-mips.c
index 1a49b0c2fafe..689c22da3591 100644
--- a/contrib/binutils/bfd/elfxx-mips.c
+++ b/contrib/binutils/bfd/elfxx-mips.c
@@ -3966,7 +3966,7 @@ mips_elf_calculate_relocation (bfd *abfd, bfd *input_bfd,
       *namep = bfd_elf_string_from_elf_section (input_bfd,
 						symtab_hdr->sh_link,
 						sym->st_name);
-      if (*namep == '\0')
+      if (*namep == NULL || **namep == '\0')
 	*namep = bfd_section_name (input_bfd, sec);
 
       target_is_16_bit_code_p = (sym->st_other == STO_MIPS16);
diff --git a/contrib/binutils/binutils/stabs.c b/contrib/binutils/binutils/stabs.c
index c8fc77dab2f6..94bd2ca8ba05 100644
--- a/contrib/binutils/binutils/stabs.c
+++ b/contrib/binutils/binutils/stabs.c
@@ -2668,7 +2668,7 @@ parse_stab_members (void *dhandle, struct stab_handle *info,
 	      ++*pp;
 	      voffset &= 0x7fffffff;
 
-	      if (**pp == ';' || *pp == '\0')
+	      if (**pp == ';' || **pp == '\0')
 		{
 		  /* Must be g++ version 1.  */
 		  context = DEBUG_TYPE_NULL;