diff --git a/gcc/cp/ChangeLog b/gcc/cp/ChangeLog
index 07b9c7e49e6d..af7f0c06b9e3 100644
--- a/gcc/cp/ChangeLog
+++ b/gcc/cp/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2009-01-15  Steve Ellcey  <sje@cup.hp.com>
+
+	PR c++/38357
+	* pt.c (tsubst): Check for NULL args.
+
 2009-01-15  Dodji Seketeli  <dodji@redhat.com>
 
 	PR c++/38636
diff --git a/gcc/cp/pt.c b/gcc/cp/pt.c
index de70e531d0be..0618fe243287 100644
--- a/gcc/cp/pt.c
+++ b/gcc/cp/pt.c
@@ -8975,6 +8975,9 @@ tsubst (tree t, tree args, tsubst_flags_t complain, tree in_decl)
   if (DECL_P (t))
     return tsubst_decl (t, args, complain);
 
+  if (args == NULL_TREE)
+    return t;
+
   if (TREE_CODE (t) == IDENTIFIER_NODE)
     type = IDENTIFIER_TYPE_VALUE (t);
   else