diff --git a/src/server/mysql.c b/src/server/mysql.c
--- a/src/server/mysql.c
+++ b/src/server/mysql.c
@@ -181,9 +181,18 @@ distrend_mysql_result_t mysqlQuery(distr
    */
   if(!expected_columns)
     {
-      while(mysql_fetch_row(result))
-	;
-      mysql_free_result(result);
+      if(result)
+	{
+	  while(mysql_fetch_row(result))
+	    ;
+	  mysql_free_result(result);
+	}
+      return NULL;
+    }
+
+  if(!result)
+    {
+      fprintf(stderr, "expected response/result for query ``%s'', got nothing\n", query);
       return NULL;
     }