diff --git a/cmd/mount_zfs/mount_zfs.c b/cmd/mount_zfs/mount_zfs.c
index aff9e10039..c38ba51c3e 100644
--- a/cmd/mount_zfs/mount_zfs.c
+++ b/cmd/mount_zfs/mount_zfs.c
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ parse_option(char *mntopt, unsigned long *mntflags,
 		if (*ptr == '=') {
 			*ptr = '\0';
 			value = ptr+1;
+			VERIFY3P(value, !=, NULL);
 			break;
 		}
 	}