diff --git a/fs/vfs/main.cc b/fs/vfs/main.cc
index 4adf443405..889aa268b6 100644
--- a/fs/vfs/main.cc
+++ b/fs/vfs/main.cc
@@ -120,6 +120,11 @@ int open(const char *pathname, int flags, ...)
     int fd, error;
     int acc;
 
+    if (pathname == nullptr) {
+        error = EFAULT;
+        goto out_errno;
+    }
+
     acc = 0;
     switch (flags & O_ACCMODE) {
     case O_RDONLY:
diff --git a/fs/vfs/vfs_syscalls.cc b/fs/vfs/vfs_syscalls.cc
index 487d57297b..d9bb18fc1a 100644
--- a/fs/vfs/vfs_syscalls.cc
+++ b/fs/vfs/vfs_syscalls.cc
@@ -117,6 +117,10 @@ sys_open(char *path, int flags, mode_t mode, struct file **fpp)
 	DPRINTF(VFSDB_SYSCALL, ("sys_open: path=%s flags=%x mode=%x\n",
 				path, flags, mode));
 
+	if (path == nullptr) {
+		return (EFAULT);
+	}
+
 	flags = fflags(flags);
 	if (flags & O_CREAT) {
 		error = namei(path, &dp);