diff --git a/src/analyze.cpp b/src/analyze.cpp
index 0fddc568a5a7988fc543c3eef92e40fd11992254..88f967240afa204676f489b9a8cdace9ca29ba9b 100644
--- a/src/analyze.cpp
+++ b/src/analyze.cpp
@@ -3614,7 +3614,7 @@ static void add_top_level_decl(CodeGen *g, ScopeDecls *decls_scope, Tld *tld) {
             Tld *other_tld = entry->value;
             if (other_tld->id == TldIdVar) {
                 ZigVar *var = reinterpret_cast<TldVar *>(other_tld)->var;
-                if (var->var_type != nullptr && type_is_invalid(var->var_type)) {
+                if (var != nullptr && var->var_type != nullptr && type_is_invalid(var->var_type)) {
                     return; // already reported compile error
                 }
             }
@@ -3896,7 +3896,7 @@ ZigVar *add_variable(CodeGen *g, AstNode *source_node, Scope *parent_scope, Buf
                         bool want_err_msg = true;
                         if (tld->id == TldIdVar) {
                             ZigVar *var = reinterpret_cast<TldVar *>(tld)->var;
-                            if (var->var_type != nullptr && type_is_invalid(var->var_type)) {
+                            if (var != nullptr && var->var_type != nullptr && type_is_invalid(var->var_type)) {
                                 want_err_msg = false;
                             }
                         }
diff --git a/src/ir.cpp b/src/ir.cpp
index cb0b6223c786dda94dccb4a6e6dbe5868444b529..48c4162a777a88f0947cab72e36d8e49b04b7fed 100644
--- a/src/ir.cpp
+++ b/src/ir.cpp
@@ -5303,7 +5303,7 @@ static ZigVar *create_local_var(CodeGen *codegen, AstNode *node, Scope *parent_s
                         bool want_err_msg = true;
                         if (tld->id == TldIdVar) {
                             ZigVar *var = reinterpret_cast<TldVar *>(tld)->var;
-                            if (var->var_type != nullptr && type_is_invalid(var->var_type)) {
+                            if (var != nullptr && var->var_type != nullptr && type_is_invalid(var->var_type)) {
                                 want_err_msg = false;
                             }
                         }