diff --git a/ChangeLog.txt b/ChangeLog.txt
index 04793bf7..bfa5772e 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.txt
+++ b/ChangeLog.txt
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ Fixed bugs:
 * Fixed determining the user's homedir: If $HOME and the /etc/passwd entry for the current user contradict each other, now $HOME takes preference over /etc/passwd.
 * Fix Android compilation, https://github.com/cryfs/cryfs/issues/345
 * Remove cryfs-stats tool which isn't ready yet and could destroy the file system
+* Fixed crash on startup when running in an environment that doesn't have $HOME set (e.g. an empty env), https://github.com/cryfs/cryfs/issues/374
 
 
 Version 0.10.2
diff --git a/src/cpp-utils/system/homedir.cpp b/src/cpp-utils/system/homedir.cpp
index 4b64090d..07b670a5 100644
--- a/src/cpp-utils/system/homedir.cpp
+++ b/src/cpp-utils/system/homedir.cpp
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ using std::string;
 #include <pwd.h>
 namespace {
 	bf::path _get_home_directory() {
-		string homedir = getenv("HOME");
+		const char* homedir_ = getenv("HOME");
+		string homedir = (homedir_ == nullptr) ? "" : homedir_;
 		if (homedir == "") {
 			// try the /etc/passwd entry
 			struct passwd* pwd = getpwuid(getuid());