diff --git a/ringbuffer.c b/ringbuffer.c
index beffca5a24..58cb8e14c6 100644
--- a/ringbuffer.c
+++ b/ringbuffer.c
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ static int ringbuf_open_file(rb_file *rfile, int *err)
   rfile->name = g_strconcat(rb_data.fprefix, "_", filenum, "_", timestr,
 			    rb_data.fsuffix, NULL);
 
-  if (rfile->name == NULL) {
+  if (rfile->name == NULL && err != NULL) {
     *err = ENOMEM;
     return -1;
   }