diff --git a/core/iwasm/libraries/libc-wasi/sandboxed-system-primitives/src/posix.c b/core/iwasm/libraries/libc-wasi/sandboxed-system-primitives/src/posix.c
index 4987a9d833..17e9f59700 100644
--- a/core/iwasm/libraries/libc-wasi/sandboxed-system-primitives/src/posix.c
+++ b/core/iwasm/libraries/libc-wasi/sandboxed-system-primitives/src/posix.c
@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ ns_lookup_list_search(char **list, const char *host)
 {
     size_t host_len = strlen(host), suffix_len;
 
+    if (!list)
+        return false;
+
     while (*list) {
         if (*list[0] == '*') {
             suffix_len = strlen(*list) - 1;