diff --git a/lib/ftplistparser.c b/lib/ftplistparser.c
index c5a2f8c45..ac6d07675 100644
--- a/lib/ftplistparser.c
+++ b/lib/ftplistparser.c
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ static CURLcode ftp_pl_insert_finfo(struct connectdata *conn,
   /* filter pattern-corresponding filenames */
   if(compare(conn->data->set.fnmatch_data, wc->pattern, finfo->filename) == 0) {
     /* discard symlink which is containing multiple " -> " */
-    if((finfo->filetype == CURLFILETYPE_SYMLINK) && finfo->strings.target
+    if((finfo->filetype == CURLFILETYPE_SYMLINK) && finfo->strings.target &&
        (strstr(finfo->strings.target, " -> "))) {
       add = FALSE;
     }