diff --git a/poppler/Annot.cc b/poppler/Annot.cc
index 76a7cb1..dd9431e 100644
--- a/poppler/Annot.cc
+++ b/poppler/Annot.cc
@@ -958,6 +958,9 @@ void Annot::initialize(XRef *xrefA, Dict *dict, Catalog *catalog) {
   }
   obj1.free();
 
+  if (!catalog)
+    return;
+
   optContentConfig = catalog->getOptContentConfig();
   dict->lookupNF("OC", &oc);
   if (!oc.isRef() && !oc.isNull()) {