diff --git a/programs/util.c b/programs/util.c
index 74b4decc..277b0cd5 100644
--- a/programs/util.c
+++ b/programs/util.c
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ void UTIL_freeFileNamesTable(FileNamesTable* table) {
       free(table->fileNames);
     }
 
-    if(table->buf) {
+    if(table && table->buf) {
       free(table->buf);
     }
 
diff --git a/programs/util.h b/programs/util.h
index f126246b..cb01fcef 100644
--- a/programs/util.h
+++ b/programs/util.h
@@ -151,8 +151,8 @@ int UTIL_readLineFromFile(char* buf, size_t len, FILE* file);
 /*Note: tableSize is denotes the total capacity of table*/
 typedef struct
 {
-    const char** fileNames;
-    char* buf;
+    const char** fileNames = NULL;
+    char* buf = NULL;
     size_t tableSize;
 } FileNamesTable;