diff --git a/toolkit/crashreporter/nsExceptionHandler.cpp b/toolkit/crashreporter/nsExceptionHandler.cpp
index f532d1a269ac..b4fff2037cd9 100644
--- a/toolkit/crashreporter/nsExceptionHandler.cpp
+++ b/toolkit/crashreporter/nsExceptionHandler.cpp
@@ -1707,6 +1707,10 @@ GetPendingDir(nsIFile** dir)
   }
 
   nsCOMPtr<nsIFile> pending = do_CreateInstance(NS_LOCAL_FILE_CONTRACTID);
+  if (!pending) {
+    NS_WARNING("Can't set up pending directory during shutdown.");
+    return false;
+  }
 #ifdef XP_WIN
   pending->InitWithPath(nsDependentString(pendingDirectory));
 #else