diff --git a/src/frontend/numparam/spicenum.c b/src/frontend/numparam/spicenum.c
index 64cfec0c8..a2ec85439 100644
--- a/src/frontend/numparam/spicenum.c
+++ b/src/frontend/numparam/spicenum.c
@@ -831,7 +831,7 @@ nupa_eval(char *s, int linenum, int orig_linenum)
     } else if (c == 'X') {
         /* compute args of subcircuit, if required */
         ptr = s;
-        while (!isspace_c(*ptr))
+        while (*ptr && !isspace_c(*ptr))
             ptr++;
         keep = *ptr;
         *ptr = '\0';