diff --git a/src/api/HttpHookState.cc b/src/api/HttpHookState.cc
index 1221bfa0b40..d6c988fc73c 100644
--- a/src/api/HttpHookState.cc
+++ b/src/api/HttpHookState.cc
@@ -75,10 +75,12 @@ HttpHookState::getNext()
 void
 HttpHookState::Scope::init(HttpAPIHooks const *feature_hooks, TSHttpHookID id)
 {
+  // operator[] yields nullptr for an out of range id, and a release build can reach that: the only thing rejecting a
+  // bad hook id upstream is an assert that compiles out. Leave the scope empty rather than dereferencing null.
   _hooks = (*feature_hooks)[id];
 
   _p = nullptr;
-  _c = _hooks->head();
+  _c = _hooks ? _hooks->head() : nullptr;
 }
 
 APIHook const *