diff --git a/programs/cmp_io.c b/programs/cmp_io.c
index da755f7c56845ed9d374494ab297a1f0f07ad2d2..81931f19b9a294c7c8b43e90a159f747b4deaa72 100644
--- a/programs/cmp_io.c
+++ b/programs/cmp_io.c
@@ -552,9 +552,10 @@ static int parse_cfg(FILE *fp, struct cmp_cfg *cfg, struct cmp_par *par)
 
 	if (!fp)
 		abort();
-
 	if (!cfg)
 		abort();
+	if(!par)
+		abort();
 
 	while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), fp) != NULL) {
 		if (line[0] == '#' || line[0] == '\n')