diff --git a/ompi/runtime/ompi_mpi_init.c b/ompi/runtime/ompi_mpi_init.c
index 33a3a659f8..80eb96a337 100644
--- a/ompi/runtime/ompi_mpi_init.c
+++ b/ompi/runtime/ompi_mpi_init.c
@@ -386,9 +386,9 @@ int ompi_mpi_init(int argc, char **argv, int requested, int *provided)
     
     /* if we were not externally started, then we need to setup
      * two envars so the MPI_INFO_ENV can get the cmd name
-     * and argv
+     * and argv (but only if the user supplied a non-NULL argv!)
      */
-    if (NULL == getenv("OMPI_COMMAND")) {
+    if (NULL == getenv("OMPI_COMMAND") && NULL != argv && NULL != argv[0]) {
         asprintf(&cmd, "OMPI_COMMAND=%s", argv[0]);
         putenv(cmd);
     }