diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/logging/logOutput.cpp b/src/hotspot/share/logging/logOutput.cpp
index 17d0e8b555d60..c768a9d810931 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/logging/logOutput.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/logging/logOutput.cpp
@@ -354,7 +354,9 @@ bool LogOutput::parse_options(const char* options, outputStream* errstream) {
       }
       break;
     }
-    pos = comma_pos + 1;
+    if (comma_pos != nullptr) {
+      pos = comma_pos + 1;
+    }
   } while (comma_pos != nullptr);
 
   os::free(opts);