diff --git a/components/tcp_transport/transport_ssl.c b/components/tcp_transport/transport_ssl.c
index 9e3854d7c2..8767a870ae 100644
--- a/components/tcp_transport/transport_ssl.c
+++ b/components/tcp_transport/transport_ssl.c
@@ -72,6 +72,10 @@ static int ssl_connect(esp_transport_handle_t t, const char *host, int port, int
     ssl->cfg.timeout_ms = timeout_ms;
     ssl->ssl_initialized = true;
     ssl->tls = esp_tls_init();
+    if (ssl->tls == NULL) {
+        ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Failed to initialize new connection object");
+        return -1;
+    }
     if (esp_tls_conn_new_sync(host, strlen(host), port, &ssl->cfg, ssl->tls) <= 0) {
         ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Failed to open a new connection");
         esp_transport_set_errors(t, ssl->tls->error_handle);