diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index e5e6d540a..9ec8977d4 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -2442,7 +2442,7 @@ operate(struct Configurable *config, int argc, char *argv[])
     }
   }
 
-  if(!config->url_list) {
+  if(!config->url_list || !config->url_list->url) {
     helpf("no URL specified!\n");
     return CURLE_FAILED_INIT;
   }