diff --git a/ion/src/simulator/linux/platform_language.cpp b/ion/src/simulator/linux/platform_language.cpp
index 81a370de320..58442afe545 100644
--- a/ion/src/simulator/linux/platform_language.cpp
+++ b/ion/src/simulator/linux/platform_language.cpp
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ namespace Platform {
 const char * languageCode() {
   static char buffer[3] = {0};
   char * locale = setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
-  if (locale[2] == '_') {
+  if (locale && locale[2] == '_') { // Check if locale is not null before accessing its elements
     buffer[0] = locale[0];
     buffer[1] = locale[1];
     return buffer;