diff --git a/src/event/modules/ngx_epoll_module.c b/src/event/modules/ngx_epoll_module.c
index be4da2d0c1..d5cafe6ae5 100644
--- a/src/event/modules/ngx_epoll_module.c
+++ b/src/event/modules/ngx_epoll_module.c
@@ -1009,7 +1009,7 @@ ngx_epoll_process_events(ngx_cycle_t *cycle, ngx_msec_t timer, ngx_uint_t flags)
 #if (NGX_SSL && NGX_SSL_ASYNC)
         aev = c->async;
 
-        if ((revents & EPOLLIN) && aev->active && async) {
+        if ((revents & EPOLLIN) && aev && aev->active && async) {
 
             if (c->async_fd == -1 || aev->instance!= instance) {
                 /*