diff --git a/include/asterisk/netsock2.h b/include/asterisk/netsock2.h
index a225346b7a..b14c1af970 100644
--- a/include/asterisk/netsock2.h
+++ b/include/asterisk/netsock2.h
@@ -343,7 +343,8 @@ int ast_sockaddr_split_hostport(char *str, char **host, char **port, int flags);
  *
  * Host names are NOT allowed.
  *
- * \param[out] addr The resulting ast_sockaddr
+ * \param[out] addr The resulting ast_sockaddr. This MAY be NULL from 
+ * functions that are performing validity checks only, e.g. ast_parse_arg().
  * \param str The string to parse
  * \param flags If set to zero, a port MAY be present. If set to
  * PARSE_PORT_IGNORE, a port MAY be present but will be ignored. If set to
diff --git a/main/netsock2.c b/main/netsock2.c
index 59ae44175b..aa5e17d9e7 100644
--- a/main/netsock2.c
+++ b/main/netsock2.c
@@ -235,8 +235,10 @@ int ast_sockaddr_parse(struct ast_sockaddr *addr, const char *str, int flags)
 			"addresses. Ignoring all but the first.\n");
 	}
 
-	addr->len = res->ai_addrlen;
-	memcpy(&addr->ss, res->ai_addr, addr->len);
+	if (addr) {
+		addr->len = res->ai_addrlen;
+		memcpy(&addr->ss, res->ai_addr, addr->len);
+	}
 
 	freeaddrinfo(res);