diff --git a/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp b/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp
index 0a51659..8505970 100644
--- a/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp
+++ b/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp
@@ -3692,9 +3692,11 @@
     if (what & layer_state_t::eRelativeLayerChanged) {
         // NOTE: index needs to be calculated before we update the state
         const auto& p = layer->getParent();
+        const auto& relativeHandle = s.relativeLayerSurfaceControl ?
+                s.relativeLayerSurfaceControl->getHandle() : nullptr;
         if (p == nullptr) {
             ssize_t idx = mCurrentState.layersSortedByZ.indexOf(layer);
-            if (layer->setRelativeLayer(s.relativeLayerSurfaceControl->getHandle(), s.z) &&
+            if (layer->setRelativeLayer(relativeHandle, s.z) &&
                 idx >= 0) {
                 mCurrentState.layersSortedByZ.removeAt(idx);
                 mCurrentState.layersSortedByZ.add(layer);
@@ -3703,7 +3705,7 @@
                 flags |= eTransactionNeeded|eTraversalNeeded;
             }
         } else {
-            if (p->setChildRelativeLayer(layer, s.relativeLayerSurfaceControl->getHandle(), s.z)) {
+            if (p->setChildRelativeLayer(layer, relativeHandle, s.z)) {
                 flags |= eTransactionNeeded|eTraversalNeeded;
             }
         }