diff --git a/include/lib/util_base.h b/include/lib/util_base.h
index c4b52a13..6f0f78b2 100644
--- a/include/lib/util_base.h
+++ b/include/lib/util_base.h
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ static inline void util_ptr_vec_free(void **ptr_vec, int count)
 {
 	int i;
 
+	if (!ptr_vec || count < 0)
+		return;
+
 	for (i = 0; i < count; i++)
 		free(ptr_vec[i]);
 	free(ptr_vec);
diff --git a/libutil/util_scandir.c b/libutil/util_scandir.c
index 22052644..73308ad2 100644
--- a/libutil/util_scandir.c
+++ b/libutil/util_scandir.c
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ static int __scandir(struct dirent ***de_vec, const char *path,
 	int count = 0;
 	DIR *dirp;
 
+	*de_vec = NULL;
 	dirp = opendir(path);
 	if (!dirp)
 		return -1;
@@ -134,13 +135,13 @@ int util_scandir_hexsort(const struct dirent **de1, const struct dirent **de2)
  * directory entries. The entries as well as the pointer array itself are
  * allocated by the function and has to be released by the user via free.
  *
- * @param[out] de_vec         Vector of matched directory entries
+ * @param[out] de_vec         Vector of matched directory entries, or NULL
  * @param[in]  compar_fn      Callback function for sorting the entry list
  * @param[in]  path           Path to the directory to scan
  * @param[in]  fmt            Format string, describes the search pattern as POSIX regex
  * @param[in]  ...            Values for format string
  *
- * @returns    Number of returned directory entries
+ * @returns    Number of returned directory entries, or -1 on error
  */
 int util_scandir(struct dirent ***de_vec,
 		 int compar_fn(const struct dirent **first,