diff --git a/src/ifcparse/IfcParse.cpp b/src/ifcparse/IfcParse.cpp
index 48574b8049..88688cbf01 100644
--- a/src/ifcparse/IfcParse.cpp
+++ b/src/ifcparse/IfcParse.cpp
@@ -1147,10 +1147,11 @@ std::string IfcEntityInstanceData::toString(bool upper) const {
             ss << ",";
         }
         if (attributes_[i] == 0) {
-            if (type_->as_entity()->derived()[i])
+            if (type_->as_entity() != nullptr && type_->as_entity()->derived()[i]) {
                ss << "*";
-            else
+            } else {
                ss << "$";
+	    }
         } else {
             ss << attributes_[i]->toString(upper);
         }