diff --git a/include/fdtdec.h b/include/fdtdec.h
index f1e58f9732..e150975b27 100644
--- a/include/fdtdec.h
+++ b/include/fdtdec.h
@@ -1061,6 +1061,7 @@ static inline int fdtdec_set_phandle(void *blob, int node, uint32_t phandle)
  * @param basename	base name of the node to create
  * @param carveout	information about the carveout region
  * @param phandlep	return location for the phandle of the carveout region
+ *			can be NULL
  * @return 0 on success or a negative error code on failure
  */
 int fdtdec_add_reserved_memory(void *blob, const char *basename,
diff --git a/lib/fdtdec.c b/lib/fdtdec.c
index 125d9dbf26..38a0cff25e 100644
--- a/lib/fdtdec.c
+++ b/lib/fdtdec.c
@@ -1309,7 +1309,8 @@ int fdtdec_add_reserved_memory(void *blob, const char *basename,
 		}
 
 		if (addr == carveout->start && (addr + size) == carveout->end) {
-			*phandlep = fdt_get_phandle(blob, node);
+			if (phandlep)
+				*phandlep = fdt_get_phandle(blob, node);
 			return 0;
 		}
 	}