diff --git a/src/server/s-ws-builder.c b/src/server/s-ws-builder.c
index bb0de25..f3b8ded 100644
--- a/src/server/s-ws-builder.c
+++ b/src/server/s-ws-builder.c
@@ -1002,6 +1002,17 @@ sais_ws_json_rx_builder(struct vhd *vhd, struct pss *pss, uint8_t *buf, size_t b
esc_pcon[192], esc_sai_hash[192],
esc_lws_hash[192], esc_peer_ip[96];
+ /*
+ * A platform the builder couldn't name (eg,
+ * from a conf it misread) is no use to us,
+ * and everything below needs the names
+ */
+ if (!build->name || !build->platform) {
+ lwsl_notice("%s: ignoring builder plat "
+ "with no name\n", __func__);
+ continue;
+ }
+
if (sai_str_has_shell_metachars(build->name) ||
sai_str_has_shell_metachars(build->platform) ||
(build->pcon &&