diff --git a/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/idprop.cc b/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/idprop.cc
index 0f36d6383ce..bdcf21a82ed 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/idprop.cc
+++ b/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/idprop.cc
@@ -1307,6 +1307,10 @@ static void IDP_DirectLinkProperty(IDProperty *prop, BlendDataReader *reader);
 static void read_ui_data(IDProperty *prop, BlendDataReader *reader)
 {
   BLO_read_data_address(reader, &prop->ui_data);
+  if (!prop->ui_data) {
+    /* Can happen when opening more recent files with unknown tyes of IDProperties. */
+    return;
+  }
   BLO_read_data_address(reader, &prop->ui_data->description);
 
   switch (IDP_ui_data_type(prop)) {