diff --git a/src/extractor/scripting_environment_lua.cpp b/src/extractor/scripting_environment_lua.cpp
index c5a866b3c..0846558de 100644
--- a/src/extractor/scripting_environment_lua.cpp
+++ b/src/extractor/scripting_environment_lua.cpp
@@ -100,7 +100,11 @@ void handle_lua_error(sol::protected_function_result &luares)
 {
     sol::error luaerr = luares;
     const auto msg = luaerr.what();
-    std::cerr << msg << std::endl;
+    if (msg != nullptr) {
+        std::cerr << msg << "\n";
+    } else {
+        std::cerr << "unknown error\n";
+    }
     throw util::exception("Lua error (see stderr for traceback)");
 }