diff --git a/src/cairo-gstate.c b/src/cairo-gstate.c
index b23d0b69e..3160d0729 100644
--- a/src/cairo-gstate.c
+++ b/src/cairo-gstate.c
@@ -1466,7 +1466,10 @@ cairo_status_t
 _cairo_gstate_set_font_face (cairo_gstate_t    *gstate,
 			     cairo_font_face_t *font_face)
 {
-    if (font_face && font_face->status)
+    if (font_face == NULL)
+	return CAIRO_STATUS_NULL_POINTER;
+
+    if (font_face->status)
 	return font_face->status;
 
     if (font_face != gstate->font_face) {