diff --git a/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/DerivedMesh.c b/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/DerivedMesh.c
index 7d3219d917e..297489ee56f 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/DerivedMesh.c
+++ b/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/DerivedMesh.c
@@ -1815,7 +1815,7 @@ static void mesh_calc_modifiers(Scene *scene, Object *ob, float (*inputVertexCos
 			 * to avoid giving bogus normals to the next modifier see: [#23673] */
 			if(isPrevDeform &&  mti->dependsOnNormals && mti->dependsOnNormals(md)) {
 				/* XXX, this covers bug #23673, but we may need normal calc for other types */
-				if(dm->type == DM_TYPE_CDDM) {
+				if(dm && dm->type == DM_TYPE_CDDM) {
 					CDDM_apply_vert_coords(dm, deformedVerts);
 					CDDM_calc_normals(dm);
 				}