diff --git a/src/detect-config.c b/src/detect-config.c
index 0f06b9a66b..dfd39998dd 100644
--- a/src/detect-config.c
+++ b/src/detect-config.c
@@ -89,6 +89,9 @@ void DetectConfigRegister(void)
 static void ConfigApplyTx(Flow *f,
         const uint64_t tx_id, const DetectConfigData *config)
 {
+    if (f->alstate == NULL) {
+        return;
+    }
     void *tx = AppLayerParserGetTx(f->proto, f->alproto, f->alstate, tx_id);
     if (tx) {
         AppLayerTxData *txd = AppLayerParserGetTxData(f->proto, f->alproto, tx);