diff --git a/admin/autoupdater/src/settings.c b/admin/autoupdater/src/settings.c
index cc9d17a..97a9dbd 100644
--- a/admin/autoupdater/src/settings.c
+++ b/admin/autoupdater/src/settings.c
@@ -109,6 +109,11 @@ static const char ** load_string_list(struct uci_context *ctx, struct uci_sectio
 
 void load_settings(struct settings *settings) {
 	struct uci_context *ctx = uci_alloc_context();
+	if (!ctx) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "autoupdater: error: failed to allocate UCI context\n");
+		abort();
+	}
+
 	ctx->flags &= ~UCI_FLAG_STRICT;
 
 	struct uci_package *p;