diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/swr/rasterizer/core/utils.h b/src/gallium/drivers/swr/rasterizer/core/utils.h
index b096d2120cb..3c849e82d3b 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/swr/rasterizer/core/utils.h
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/swr/rasterizer/core/utils.h
@@ -365,7 +365,8 @@ static INLINE std::string GetEnv(const std::string& variableName)
     output.resize(valueSize - 1); // valueSize includes null, output.resize() does not
     GetEnvironmentVariableA(variableName.c_str(), &output[0], valueSize);
 #else
-    output = getenv(variableName.c_str());
+    char *o = getenv(variableName.c_str());
+    output = o ? std::string(o) : std::string();
 #endif
 
     return output;