diff --git a/libexec/ftpd/ftpd.c b/libexec/ftpd/ftpd.c
index 78ebc7c737c0..dd9d469c8516 100644
--- a/libexec/ftpd/ftpd.c
+++ b/libexec/ftpd/ftpd.c
@@ -2350,6 +2350,10 @@ statfilecmd(char *filename)
 	code = lstat(filename, &st) == 0 && S_ISDIR(st.st_mode) ? 212 : 213;
 	(void)snprintf(line, sizeof(line), _PATH_LS " -lgA %s", filename);
 	fin = ftpd_popen(line, "r");
+	if (fin == NULL) {
+		perror_reply(551, filename);
+		return;
+	}
 	lreply(code, "Status of %s:", filename);
 	atstart = 1;
 	while ((c = getc(fin)) != EOF) {