diff --git a/ext/ldap/ldap.c b/ext/ldap/ldap.c
index 7401613cf63..4146af1400d 100644
--- a/ext/ldap/ldap.c
+++ b/ext/ldap/ldap.c
@@ -1165,6 +1165,11 @@ PHP_FUNCTION(ldap_next_attribute)
 	ZEND_FETCH_RESOURCE(ld, ldap_linkdata *, link, -1, "ldap link", le_link);
 	ZEND_FETCH_RESOURCE(resultentry, ldap_resultentry *, result_entry, -1, "ldap result entry", le_result_entry);
 
+	if (resultentry->ber == NULL) {
+		php_error_docref(NULL TSRMLS_CC, E_WARNING, "called before calling ldap_first_attribute() or no attributes found in result entry");
+		RETURN_FALSE;
+	}
+
 	if ((attribute = ldap_next_attribute(ld->link, resultentry->data, resultentry->ber)) == NULL) {
 #if (LDAP_API_VERSION > 2000) || HAVE_NSLDAP || HAVE_ORALDAP_10 || WINDOWS
 		if (resultentry->ber != NULL) {