diff --git a/ports/libsimpleservo/capi/src/lib.rs b/ports/libsimpleservo/capi/src/lib.rs
index 50af7a4d284..b080218492d 100644
--- a/ports/libsimpleservo/capi/src/lib.rs
+++ b/ports/libsimpleservo/capi/src/lib.rs
@@ -75,13 +75,16 @@ fn init(
 ) {
     crate::env_logger::init();
 
-    let args = unsafe { CStr::from_ptr(opts.args) };
-    let args = args
-        .to_str()
-        .unwrap_or("")
-        .split(' ')
-        .map(|s| s.to_owned())
-        .collect();
+    let args = if !opts.args.is_null() {
+        let args = unsafe { CStr::from_ptr(opts.args) };
+        args.to_str()
+            .unwrap_or("")
+            .split(' ')
+            .map(|s| s.to_owned())
+            .collect()
+    } else {
+        vec![]
+    };
 
     let url = unsafe { CStr::from_ptr(opts.url) };
     let url = url.to_str().map(|s| s.to_string()).ok();