diff --git a/fftools/cmdutils.c b/fftools/cmdutils.c
index b8de319fe4a29ecc70907530e28e390165b18bf0..9cfbc45c2bfbaa85a0f7f118fa199494c7fccbca 100644
--- a/fftools/cmdutils.c
+++ b/fftools/cmdutils.c
@@ -1956,7 +1956,10 @@ static void show_help_bsf(const char *name)
 {
     const AVBitStreamFilter *bsf = av_bsf_get_by_name(name);
 
-    if (!bsf) {
+    if (!name) {
+        av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_ERROR, "No bitstream filter name specified.\n");
+        return;
+    } else if (!bsf) {
         av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Unknown bit stream filter '%s'.\n", name);
         return;
     }