diff --git a/src/libcharon/sa/ike_sa_manager.c b/src/libcharon/sa/ike_sa_manager.c
index 9fec03348..b6321cf16 100644
--- a/src/libcharon/sa/ike_sa_manager.c
+++ b/src/libcharon/sa/ike_sa_manager.c
@@ -1501,8 +1501,11 @@ METHOD(ike_sa_manager_t, checkout_by_config, ike_sa_t*,
 	if (!this->reuse_ikesa && peer_cfg->get_ike_version(peer_cfg) != IKEV1)
 	{	/* IKE_SA reuse disabled by config (not possible for IKEv1) */
 		ike_sa = create_new(this, peer_cfg->get_ike_version(peer_cfg), TRUE);
-		ike_sa->set_peer_cfg(ike_sa, peer_cfg);
-		checkout_new(this, ike_sa);
+		if (ike_sa)
+		{
+			ike_sa->set_peer_cfg(ike_sa, peer_cfg);
+			checkout_new(this, ike_sa);
+		}
 		charon->bus->set_sa(charon->bus, ike_sa);
 		goto out;
 	}
@@ -1573,8 +1576,11 @@ METHOD(ike_sa_manager_t, checkout_by_config, ike_sa_t*,
 	if (!ike_sa)
 	{
 		ike_sa = create_new(this, peer_cfg->get_ike_version(peer_cfg), TRUE);
-		ike_sa->set_peer_cfg(ike_sa, peer_cfg);
-		checkout_new(this, ike_sa);
+		if (ike_sa)
+		{
+			ike_sa->set_peer_cfg(ike_sa, peer_cfg);
+			checkout_new(this, ike_sa);
+		}
 	}
 	charon->bus->set_sa(charon->bus, ike_sa);