diff --git a/device.c b/device.c
index 2dee902c..04d463c1 100644
--- a/device.c
+++ b/device.c
@@ -235,6 +235,9 @@ gboolean sr_device_has_hwcap(struct sr_device *device, int hwcap)
 {
 	int *capabilities, i;
 
+	if (!device || !device->plugin)
+		return;
+
 	if ((capabilities = device->plugin->get_capabilities()))
 		for (i = 0; capabilities[i]; i++)
 			if (capabilities[i] == hwcap)