diff --git a/src/ctr_decode_opentelemetry.c b/src/ctr_decode_opentelemetry.c
index f5a0091..8c50780 100644
--- a/src/ctr_decode_opentelemetry.c
+++ b/src/ctr_decode_opentelemetry.c
@@ -299,6 +299,9 @@ static int convert_any_value(struct opentelemetry_decode_value *ctr_val,
 {
     int result;
 
+    if (val == NULL) {
+        return -1;
+    }
     switch (val->value_case) {
 
         case OPENTELEMETRY__PROTO__COMMON__V1__ANY_VALUE__VALUE_STRING_VALUE: