diff --git a/components/sceneutil/attach.cpp b/components/sceneutil/attach.cpp
index fe8aad0879..6690148c74 100644
--- a/components/sceneutil/attach.cpp
+++ b/components/sceneutil/attach.cpp
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@ namespace SceneUtil
 
     void mergeUserData(const osg::UserDataContainer* source, osg::Object* target)
     {
+        if (!source)
+            return;
+    
         if (!target->getUserDataContainer())
             target->setUserDataContainer(osg::clone(source, osg::CopyOp::SHALLOW_COPY));
         else