diff --git a/kernel/fatal.c b/kernel/fatal.c
index 7917945c992..d11b6cf9620 100644
--- a/kernel/fatal.c
+++ b/kernel/fatal.c
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ void z_fatal_error(unsigned int reason, const z_arch_esf_t *esf)
 	 * See #17656
 	 */
 #if defined(CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_NESTED_EXCEPTION_DETECTION)
-	if (arch_is_in_nested_exception(esf)) {
+	if ((esf != NULL) && arch_is_in_nested_exception(esf)) {
 		LOG_ERR("Fault during interrupt handling\n");
 	}
 #endif
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ void z_fatal_error(unsigned int reason, const z_arch_esf_t *esf)
 			 "Attempted to recover from a kernel panic condition");
 		/* FIXME: #17656 */
 #if defined(CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_NESTED_EXCEPTION_DETECTION)
-		if (arch_is_in_nested_exception(esf)) {
+		if ((esf != NULL) && arch_is_in_nested_exception(esf)) {
 #if defined(CONFIG_STACK_SENTINEL)
 			if (reason != K_ERR_STACK_CHK_FAIL) {
 				__ASSERT(0,
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ void z_fatal_error(unsigned int reason, const z_arch_esf_t *esf)
 	} else {
 		/* Test mode */
 #if defined(CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_NESTED_EXCEPTION_DETECTION)
-			if (arch_is_in_nested_exception(esf)) {
+			if ((esf != NULL) && arch_is_in_nested_exception(esf)) {
 				/* Abort the thread only on STACK Sentinel check fail. */
 #if defined(CONFIG_STACK_SENTINEL)
 				if (reason != K_ERR_STACK_CHK_FAIL) {