diff --git a/src/ncrypto.cpp b/src/ncrypto.cpp
index e935eb8..50bd9c0 100644
--- a/src/ncrypto.cpp
+++ b/src/ncrypto.cpp
@@ -1515,6 +1515,7 @@ BIOPointer BIOPointer::NewSecMem() {
 }
 
 BIOPointer BIOPointer::New(const BIO_METHOD* method) {
+  if (method == nullptr) return {};
   return BIOPointer(BIO_new(method));
 }