diff --git a/src/detect-engine-address.c b/src/detect-engine-address.c
index d59599aed1..aa3c2d77d0 100644
--- a/src/detect-engine-address.c
+++ b/src/detect-engine-address.c
@@ -1250,6 +1250,14 @@ int DetectAddressTestConfVars(void)
             goto error;
         }
 
+        if (seq_node->val == NULL) {
+            SCLogError(SC_ERR_INVALID_YAML_CONF_ENTRY,
+                       "Address var \"%s\" probably has a sequence(something "
+                       "in brackets) value set without any quotes. Please "
+                       "quote it using \"..\".", seq_node->name);
+            goto error;
+        }
+
         int r = DetectAddressParse2(gh, ghn, seq_node->val, /* start with negate no */0);
         if (r < 0) {
             SCLogError(SC_ERR_INVALID_YAML_CONF_ENTRY,
diff --git a/src/detect-engine-port.c b/src/detect-engine-port.c
index 1ccb29dd7e..45e7e7b12f 100644
--- a/src/detect-engine-port.c
+++ b/src/detect-engine-port.c
@@ -1308,6 +1308,14 @@ int DetectPortTestConfVars(void)
         }
         DetectPort *ghn = NULL;
 
+        if (seq_node->val == NULL) {
+            SCLogError(SC_ERR_INVALID_YAML_CONF_ENTRY,
+                       "Port var \"%s\" probably has a sequence(something "
+                       "in brackets) value set without any quotes. Please "
+                       "quote it using \"..\".", seq_node->name);
+            goto error;
+        }
+
         int r = DetectPortParseDo(&gh, &ghn, seq_node->val, /* start with negate no */0);
         if (r < 0) {
             goto error;