diff --git a/ext/curl/curl.c b/ext/curl/curl.c
index 2c20a5c4502..0ef082d3940 100644
--- a/ext/curl/curl.c
+++ b/ext/curl/curl.c
@@ -825,7 +825,7 @@ PHP_FUNCTION(curl_exec)
 
 	error = curl_easy_perform(ch->cp);
 	if (error != CURLE_OK) {
-		if (ch->handlers->write->buf)
+		if (ch->handlers->write->buf.c)
 			smart_str_free(&ch->handlers->write->buf);
 		SAVE_CURL_ERROR(ch, error);
 		RETURN_FALSE;