diff --git a/lib/libc/locale/collate.c b/lib/libc/locale/collate.c
index 0236630152b..53b6c77c313 100644
--- a/lib/libc/locale/collate.c
+++ b/lib/libc/locale/collate.c
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ _collate_lookup(struct xlocale_collate *table, const wchar_t *t, int *len,
 	if ((sptr = *state) != NULL) {
 		*pri = *sptr;
 		sptr++;
-		if ((sptr == *state) || (sptr == NULL))
+		if ((sptr == *state) || (*sptr == 0))
 			*state = NULL;
 		else
 			*state = sptr;