diff --git a/libarmbox/playback_gst.cpp b/libarmbox/playback_gst.cpp
index 2b8202d..e13a6d1 100644
--- a/libarmbox/playback_gst.cpp
+++ b/libarmbox/playback_gst.cpp
@@ -250,9 +250,12 @@ GstBusSyncReply Gst_bus_call(GstBus *bus, GstMessage *msg, gpointer user_data)
 
 	case GST_MESSAGE_TAG:
 	{
-		GstTagList *tags, *result;
+		GstTagList *tags = NULL, *result = NULL;
 		gst_message_parse_tag(msg, &tags);
 
+		if(tags != NULL || !GST_IS_TAG_LIST(tags))
+			break;
+
 		result = gst_tag_list_merge(m_stream_tags, tags, GST_TAG_MERGE_REPLACE);
 		if (result)
 		{