diff --git a/qapi/qmp-output-visitor.c b/qapi/qmp-output-visitor.c
index 74a5684ed3..96b338463e 100644
--- a/qapi/qmp-output-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/qmp-output-visitor.c
@@ -66,6 +66,12 @@ static QObject *qmp_output_pop(QmpOutputVisitor *qov)
 static QObject *qmp_output_first(QmpOutputVisitor *qov)
 {
     QStackEntry *e = QTAILQ_LAST(&qov->stack, QStack);
+
+    /* FIXME - find a better way to deal with NULL values */
+    if (!e) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     return e->value;
 }