diff --git a/src/rpc/core_rpc_server.cpp b/src/rpc/core_rpc_server.cpp
index fa753252a..426d8b295 100644
--- a/src/rpc/core_rpc_server.cpp
+++ b/src/rpc/core_rpc_server.cpp
@@ -2875,6 +2875,12 @@ namespace cryptonote
       }
       else
       {
+        if (!i->ip)
+        {
+          error_resp.code = CORE_RPC_ERROR_CODE_WRONG_PARAM;
+          error_resp.message = "No ip/host supplied";
+          return false;
+        }
         na = epee::net_utils::ipv4_network_address{i->ip, 0};
       }
       if (i->ban)