diff --git a/src/http/ngx_http_upstream.c b/src/http/ngx_http_upstream.c
index 703017f54..5e04324d7 100644
--- a/src/http/ngx_http_upstream.c
+++ b/src/http/ngx_http_upstream.c
@@ -636,6 +636,14 @@ ngx_http_upstream_init_request(ngx_http_request_t *r)
 
 found:
 
+    if (uscf == NULL) {
+        ngx_log_error(NGX_LOG_ALERT, r->connection->log, 0,
+                      "no upstream configuration");
+        ngx_http_upstream_finalize_request(r, u,
+                                           NGX_HTTP_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR);
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (uscf->peer.init(r, uscf) != NGX_OK) {
         ngx_http_upstream_finalize_request(r, u,
                                            NGX_HTTP_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR);