diff --git a/src/ucm/ucm_exec.c b/src/ucm/ucm_exec.c
index 1cdb2633..d83206d0 100644
--- a/src/ucm/ucm_exec.c
+++ b/src/ucm/ucm_exec.c
@@ -185,7 +185,11 @@ int uc_mgr_exec(const char *prog)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	prog = argv[0];
-	if (argv[0][0] != '/' && argv[0][0] != '.') {
+	if (prog == NULL) {
+		err = -EINVAL;
+		goto __error;
+	}
+	if (prog[0] != '/' && prog[0] != '.') {
 		if (!find_exec(argv[0], bin, sizeof(bin))) {
 			err = -ENOEXEC;
 			goto __error;