diff --git a/include/pybind11/cast.h b/include/pybind11/cast.h
index 7ddd384d9..d1f6b2504 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/cast.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/cast.h
@@ -160,6 +160,8 @@ public:
      : typeinfo(get_type_info(type_info, false)) { }
 
     PYBIND11_NOINLINE bool load(handle src, bool convert) {
+        if (!src)
+            return false;
         return load(src, convert, Py_TYPE(src.ptr()));
     }