diff --git a/apps/app_forkcdr.c b/apps/app_forkcdr.c
index 64679b551a..87c5ac939a 100755
--- a/apps/app_forkcdr.c
+++ b/apps/app_forkcdr.c
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@ static int forkcdr_exec(struct ast_channel *chan, void *data)
 	int res=0;
 	struct localuser *u;
 	LOCAL_USER_ADD(u);
-	ast_set2_flag(chan->cdr, strchr((char *)data, 'v'), AST_CDR_FLAG_KEEP_VARS);
+	if (data && !ast_strlen_zero(data))
+		ast_set2_flag(chan->cdr, strchr((char *)data, 'v'), AST_CDR_FLAG_KEEP_VARS);
 	
 	ast_cdr_fork(chan);