diff --git a/find/util.c b/find/util.c
index 4792080..b1e0ccc 100644
--- a/find/util.c
+++ b/find/util.c
@@ -893,7 +893,7 @@ safely_quote_err_filename (int n, char const *arg)
 void
 fatal_file_error(const char *name)
 {
-  error (1, errno, "%s", safely_quote_err_filename(0, name));
+  error (1, errno, "%s", (name ? safely_quote_err_filename(0, name) : ""));
   /*NOTREACHED*/
   abort();
 }
