diff --git a/src/Connection.c b/src/Connection.c
index 430a543..c44ee0d 100644
--- a/src/Connection.c
+++ b/src/Connection.c
@@ -203,13 +203,13 @@ int LiStartConnection(PSERVER_INFORMATION serverInfo, PSTREAM_CONFIGURATION stre
     void* audioContext, int arFlags) {
     int err;
 
-    if ((drCallbacks->capabilities & CAPABILITY_PULL_RENDERER) && drCallbacks->submitDecodeUnit) {
+    if (drCallbacks != NULL && (drCallbacks->capabilities & CAPABILITY_PULL_RENDERER) && drCallbacks->submitDecodeUnit) {
         Limelog("CAPABILITY_PULL_RENDERER cannot be set with a submitDecodeUnit callback\n");
         err = -1;
         goto Cleanup;
     }
 
-    if ((drCallbacks->capabilities & CAPABILITY_PULL_RENDERER) && (drCallbacks->capabilities & CAPABILITY_DIRECT_SUBMIT)) {
+    if (drCallbacks != NULL && (drCallbacks->capabilities & CAPABILITY_PULL_RENDERER) && (drCallbacks->capabilities & CAPABILITY_DIRECT_SUBMIT)) {
         Limelog("CAPABILITY_PULL_RENDERER and CAPABILITY_DIRECT_SUBMIT cannot be set together\n");
         err = -1;
         goto Cleanup;