diff --git a/src/database/engine/rrdengineapi.c b/src/database/engine/rrdengineapi.c
index 6d737fb613bac8..b5712e2a4d6d07 100755
--- a/src/database/engine/rrdengineapi.c
+++ b/src/database/engine/rrdengineapi.c
@@ -911,8 +911,10 @@ void rrdeng_load_metric_finalize(struct storage_engine_query_handle *seqh)
         pgdc_reset(&handle->pgdc, NULL, UINT32_MAX);
     }
 
-    if(!pdc_release_and_destroy_if_unreferenced(handle->pdc, false, false))
+    if(handle->pdc) {
         __atomic_store_n(&handle->pdc->workers_should_stop, true, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+        pdc_release_and_destroy_if_unreferenced(handle->pdc, false, false);
+    }
 
     unregister_query_handle(handle);
     rrdeng_query_handle_release(handle);