diff --git a/src/core/lib/iomgr/fork_posix.cc b/src/core/lib/iomgr/fork_posix.cc
index 629b08162fb..444d2574c7e 100644
--- a/src/core/lib/iomgr/fork_posix.cc
+++ b/src/core/lib/iomgr/fork_posix.cc
@@ -59,8 +59,9 @@ void grpc_prefork() {
             "environment variable GRPC_ENABLE_FORK_SUPPORT=1");
     return;
   }
-  if (strcmp(grpc_get_poll_strategy_name(), "epoll1") != 0 &&
-      strcmp(grpc_get_poll_strategy_name(), "poll") != 0) {
+  const char * poll_strategy_name = grpc_get_poll_strategy_name();
+  if (poll_strategy_name == nullptr || strcmp(poll_strategy_name, "epoll1") != 0 &&
+      strcmp(poll_strategy_name, "poll") != 0) {
     gpr_log(GPR_INFO,
             "Fork support is only compatible with the epoll1 and poll polling "
             "strategies");