diff --git a/server/scoreboard.c b/server/scoreboard.c

index f989b99..7cce507 100644

--- a/server/scoreboard.c

+++ b/server/scoreboard.c

@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ AP_DECLARE(void) ap_increment_counts(ap_sb_handle_t *sb, request_rec *r)

     if (pfn_ap_logio_get_last_bytes != NULL) {

         bytes = pfn_ap_logio_get_last_bytes(r->connection);

     }

-    else if (r->method_number == M_GET && r->method[0] == 'H') {

+    else if (r->method_number == M_GET && r->method && r->method[0] == 'H') {

         bytes = 0;

     }

     else {