diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 1d60b5a7..8f9bfa02 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2003-05-16  Havoc Pennington  <hp@redhat.com>
+
+	* bus/policy.c (free_rule_list_func): avoid a crash when passed
+	NULL as DBusHashTable is annoyingly likely to do.
+
 2003-05-16  Colin Walters  <walters@verbum.org>
 
 	* tools/dbus-monitor.c: Add --session argument and usage()
diff --git a/bus/policy.c b/bus/policy.c
index 74ed7100..938f7daa 100644
--- a/bus/policy.c
+++ b/bus/policy.c
@@ -124,6 +124,9 @@ free_rule_list_func (void *data)
 {
   DBusList **list = data;
 
+  if (list == NULL) /* DBusHashTable is on crack */
+    return;
+  
   _dbus_list_foreach (list, free_rule_func, NULL);
   
   _dbus_list_clear (list);