diff --git a/tools/include/nolibc/stdio.h b/tools/include/nolibc/stdio.h
index cb4d3ab3a565..559ebe052a75 100644
--- a/tools/include/nolibc/stdio.h
+++ b/tools/include/nolibc/stdio.h
@@ -220,6 +220,8 @@ int vfprintf(FILE *stream, const char *fmt, va_list args)
 			}
 			else if (c == 's') {
 				outstr = va_arg(args, char *);
+				if (!outstr)
+					outstr="(null)";
 			}
 			else if (c == '%') {
 				/* queue it verbatim */