diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 22a8e6a2..ac642aae 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
  * src/support.h:
    Prevent compile errors in plugins when GETTEXT_PACKAGE is not
    defined.
+ * tagmanager/make.c:
+   Fix crash in Makefile parser when trying to read defines.
 
 
 2009-01-03  Nick Treleaven  <nick(dot)treleaven(at)btinternet(dot)com>
diff --git a/tagmanager/make.c b/tagmanager/make.c
index 39a91ebc..f59ce46f 100644
--- a/tagmanager/make.c
+++ b/tagmanager/make.c
@@ -110,8 +110,12 @@ static void newMacro (vString *const name)
 static void newMacroFromDefine (vString *const name)
 {
 	/* name is something like "define JAVAHPP_RULE", find the space and jump to the next char */
-	vStringCopyS (name, strchr (vStringValue (name), ' ') + 1);
-	makeSimpleTag (name, MakeKinds, K_MACRO);
+	char *name_val = strchr (vStringValue (name), ' ');
+
+	if (name_val != NULL) {
+		vStringCopyS (name, name_val + 1);
+		makeSimpleTag (name, MakeKinds, K_MACRO);
+	}
 }
 
 static void readIdentifier (const int first, vString *const id)