diff --git a/libdm/libdm-config.c b/libdm/libdm-config.c
index 8fee4ecc7..3ece3d32a 100644
--- a/libdm/libdm-config.c
+++ b/libdm/libdm-config.c
@@ -170,8 +170,12 @@ void dm_config_destroy(struct dm_config_tree *cft)
  */
 struct dm_config_tree *dm_config_remove_cascaded_tree(struct dm_config_tree *cft)
 {
-	struct dm_config_tree *second_cft = cft->cascade;
+	struct dm_config_tree *second_cft;
 
+	if (!cft)
+		return NULL;
+
+	second_cft = cft->cascade;
 	cft->cascade = NULL;
 
 	return second_cft;
diff --git a/test/t-000-basic.sh b/test/t-000-basic.sh
index bd7ba693b..0b54d9524 100755
--- a/test/t-000-basic.sh
+++ b/test/t-000-basic.sh
@@ -23,3 +23,6 @@ diff -u actual expected
 # ensure we can create devices (uses dmsetup, etc)
 aux prepare_devs 5
 
+# ensure we do not crash on a bug in config file
+aux lvmconf 'log/prefix = 1""'
+not lvs