diff --git a/src/p_mobj.c b/src/p_mobj.c
index 4bed833fbf0c94aaebb4beb388275eeaac936423..84884eef38bdf1b1375bb66b8e70aa71317365a7 100644
--- a/src/p_mobj.c
+++ b/src/p_mobj.c
@@ -10886,7 +10886,8 @@ mobj_t *P_SpawnMobj(fixed_t x, fixed_t y, fixed_t z, mobjtype_t type, ...)
 		// when spawning MT_PLAYER, set mobj->player before calling MobjSpawn hook to prevent P_RemoveMobj from succeeding on player mobj.
 		va_start(args, type);
 		mobj->player = va_arg(args, player_t *);
-		mobj->player->mo = mobj;
+		if (mobj->player)
+			mobj->player->mo = mobj;
 		va_end(args);
 	}