diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/nolibc/nolibc-test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/nolibc/nolibc-test.c
index f8e8e8d2a5e1..c6ef8b3e8345 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/nolibc/nolibc-test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/nolibc/nolibc-test.c
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ static int expect_strzr(const char *expr, int llen)
 {
 	int ret = 0;
 
-	llen += printf(" = <%s> ", expr);
+	llen += printf(" = <%s> ", expr ? expr : "(null)");
 	if (expr) {
 		ret = 1;
 		llen += pad_spc(llen, 40, "[FAIL]\n");
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ static int expect_strnz(const char *expr, int llen)
 {
 	int ret = 0;
 
-	llen += printf(" = <%s> ", expr);
+	llen += printf(" = <%s> ", expr ? expr : "(null)");
 	if (!expr) {
 		ret = 1;
 		llen += pad_spc(llen, 40, "[FAIL]\n");