diff --git a/shlr/sdb/src/ht_inc.c b/shlr/sdb/src/ht_inc.c
index 66de567be2..baaad41a33 100644
--- a/shlr/sdb/src/ht_inc.c
+++ b/shlr/sdb/src/ht_inc.c
@@ -301,6 +301,10 @@ SDB_API HT_(Kv)* Ht_(find_kv)(HtName_(Ht)* ht, const KEY_TYPE key, bool* found)
 	if (found) {
 		*found = false;
 	}
+	if (!ht) {
+		*found = false;
+		return NULL;
+	}
 
 	HT_(Bucket) *bt = &ht->table[bucketfn (ht, key)];
 	ut32 key_len = calcsize_key (ht, key);
diff --git a/shlr/sdb/src/sdb.c b/shlr/sdb/src/sdb.c
index efdf6e1dde..9d4999eb2a 100644
--- a/shlr/sdb/src/sdb.c
+++ b/shlr/sdb/src/sdb.c
@@ -368,13 +368,12 @@ SDB_API int sdb_add(Sdb* s, const char *key, const char *val, ut32 cas) {
 SDB_API bool sdb_exists(Sdb* s, const char *key) {
 	ut32 pos;
 	char ch;
-	SdbKv *kv;
 	bool found;
 	int klen = strlen (key) + 1;
 	if (!s) {
 		return false;
 	}
-	kv = (SdbKv*)sdb_ht_find_kvp (s->ht, key, &found);
+	SdbKv *kv = (SdbKv*)sdb_ht_find_kvp (s->ht, key, &found);
 	if (found && kv) {
 		char *v = sdbkv_value (kv);
 		return v && *v;