diff --git a/examples/gguf/gguf.cpp b/examples/gguf/gguf.cpp
index 9ab63a293..2d14897ea 100644
--- a/examples/gguf/gguf.cpp
+++ b/examples/gguf/gguf.cpp
@@ -92,7 +92,10 @@ static bool gguf_ex_read_0(const std::string & fname) {
     };
 
     struct gguf_context * ctx = gguf_init_from_file(fname.c_str(), params);
-
+    if (NULL == ctx) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "could not retrieve GGUF data context from file.\n");
+        exit(1);
+    }
     printf("%s: version:      %d\n", __func__, gguf_get_version(ctx));
     printf("%s: alignment:   %zu\n", __func__, gguf_get_alignment(ctx));
     printf("%s: data offset: %zu\n", __func__, gguf_get_data_offset(ctx));
@@ -152,7 +155,10 @@ static bool gguf_ex_read_1(const std::string & fname) {
     };
 
     struct gguf_context * ctx = gguf_init_from_file(fname.c_str(), params);
-
+    if (NULL == ctx) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "could not retrieve GGUF data context from file.\n");
+        exit(1);
+    }
     printf("%s: version:      %d\n", __func__, gguf_get_version(ctx));
     printf("%s: alignment:   %zu\n", __func__, gguf_get_alignment(ctx));
     printf("%s: data offset: %zu\n", __func__, gguf_get_data_offset(ctx));