diff --git a/compositor/main.c b/compositor/main.c
index bf4062af..1289327b 100644
--- a/compositor/main.c
+++ b/compositor/main.c
@@ -1818,7 +1818,7 @@ wet_layoutput_create_output(struct wet_layoutput *lo, const char *name)
 	output->output =
 		weston_compositor_create_output(lo->compositor->compositor,
 						name);
-	if (!output) {
+	if (!output->output) {
 		free(output);
 		return NULL;
 	}