diff --git a/apache2/msc_util.c b/apache2/msc_util.c
index acc33e94..d15a5f73 100644
--- a/apache2/msc_util.c
+++ b/apache2/msc_util.c
@@ -448,9 +448,13 @@ char *log_escape_header_name(apr_pool_t *mp, const char *text) {
 }
 
 char *log_escape_raw(apr_pool_t *mp, const unsigned char *text, unsigned long int text_length) {
-    unsigned char *ret = apr_palloc(mp, text_length * 4 + 1);
+    unsigned char *ret;
     unsigned long int i, j;
 
+    if (text_length <= 0) return NULL;
+
+    ret = apr_palloc(mp, text_length * 4 + 1);
+
     for (i = 0, j = 0; i < text_length; i++, j += 4) {
         apr_snprintf((char *)ret+j, 5, "\\x%02x", text[i]);
     }