diff --git a/spa/plugins/support/dbus.c b/spa/plugins/support/dbus.c
index c1477baf0..9a08919d0 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/support/dbus.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/support/dbus.c
@@ -288,7 +288,8 @@ static DBusHandlerResult filter_message (DBusConnection *connection,
 
 	if (dbus_message_is_signal(message, DBUS_INTERFACE_LOCAL, "Disconnected")) {
 		spa_log_debug(impl->log, "dbus connection %p disconnected", this);
-		dbus_connection_unref(this->conn);
+		if (this->conn)
+			dbus_connection_unref(this->conn);
 		this->conn = NULL;
 		connection_emit_disconnected(this);
 	}
diff --git a/src/examples/media-session/access-portal.c b/src/examples/media-session/access-portal.c
index 39eeb314d..bf6c942a6 100644
--- a/src/examples/media-session/access-portal.c
+++ b/src/examples/media-session/access-portal.c
@@ -289,7 +289,8 @@ static void session_destroy(void *data)
 static void session_dbus_disconnected(void *data)
 {
 	struct impl *impl = data;
-	dbus_connection_unref(impl->bus);
+	if (impl->bus)
+		dbus_connection_unref(impl->bus);
 	impl->bus = NULL;
 }