diff --git a/src/platforms/common/px4_getopt.c b/src/platforms/common/px4_getopt.c
index 863b5816b4..a242e66e83 100644
--- a/src/platforms/common/px4_getopt.c
+++ b/src/platforms/common/px4_getopt.c
@@ -165,6 +165,9 @@ __EXPORT int px4_getopt(int argc, char *argv[], const char *options, int *myopti
 
 		if (takesarg) {
 			*myoptarg = argv[*myoptind];
+			if (!*myoptarg) { //Error: option takes an argument, but there is no more argument
+				return -1;
+			}
 			*myoptind += 1;
 		}